August 14, 2023
On August 1st, after the initial feint of a superseding indictment in the Mar-a-lago classified documents case, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith dropped a second federal indictment on Donald Trump, charging him in Washington, D.C. on four felony counts: 1) Conspiracy to Defraud the United States 18 U.S.C.§371; 2) Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, 18 U.S.C. 1512(k); 3) Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, 18 U.S.C. 1512 (c ) (2) and 2; and 4) the Reconstruction era statute designed to protect Black citizens, Conspiracy Against Rights, 18 U.S.C. 241. (Source: United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, (Case No. 1:23-cr-00257-TSC, D.D.C.).
The 45 page indictment meticulously lays out the myriad ways in which Trump and six unindicted (for now) co-conspirators worked feverishly to overturn the results of a free and fair election, spread lies to sow distrust among the American people and hold on to power. Although countless journalists have summarized the indictment, it is well worth reading for yourself. Again and again, the indictment provides evidence that Trump was repeatedly told by Republicans that he had lost the election. It presents evidence that Trump knew that the wackadoodle theories advanced by his loon squad of “attorneys” like Giuliani and Sydney Powell were completely false.
Trump and his confederates repeatedly pushed everyone from V.P. Pence to Governors and Secretaries of State to throw out election results where Trump was defeated. The conspirators “organized fraudulent slates of electors in seven targeted states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin),” (U.S.v Trump Indictment at par. 10(b)).
Although Trump’s fake electors scheme covered seven states, he and his co-conspirators singled out the majority Black cities of Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia for the bulk of their opprobrium. Co-Conspirator #1, Rudy Giuliani accused mother/daughter election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of passing a thumb drive of fraudulent votes “like they were vials of heroin or cocaine.” In reality Ruby was simply handing her daughter a mint. As a result of Giuliani’s vile slander, Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss were doxxed and threatened and had to leave their homes, (Source: “Rudy Giuliani concedes he made false statements against Georgia election workers,” by Jaclyn Diaz, npr.org,7/26/23). In Philadelphia, after Trump maligned a City Commissioner for stating that there was no evidence of voter fraud, the Commissioner and his family received death threats, (U.S. v. Trump Indictment at par. 42). In Detroit, Trump supporters stormed the facility where votes were being counted after Trump made the baseless allegation that 149,772 fraudulent votes had been dumped in the overwhelmingly Black city, (U.S. v. Trump Indictment at par.41).
Trump is many things, but subtle is not one of them. Invalidating the votes of Black and Brown voters was the centerpiece of his scheme. Trump has stoked white grievance and resentment by demonizing Black elected officials, Black prosecutors and rank and file Black election workers. His central thesis is that any claim to, or exercise of, power by Black people is per se illegitimate. For all of the hand wringing about the unique threat that Trump poses to American democracy, his position is not novel and he is far from alone in his belief.
Trump has inspired or unleashed an army of copycats who believe that their path to power lies in the ostentatious persecution of people of color. From Texas Governor Greg Abbott installing torture traps in the Rio Grande that maim and kill asylum seekers, to charisma-free fascist Ron DeSantis’ wholesale book bans and removal of democratically elected prosecutors for the crime of refusing to enforce draconian abortion bans or throw kids in jail, there is no shortage of elected officials eager to abandon democracy.
The ugly truth is that for most of our country’s history, “democracy” has been a privilege reserved for white, straight, Christian men. Any effort to expand the definition to include Black people has met with fierce backlash, from 1877 to today. As Henry Louis Gates said in 2016, Trump’s election signaled the end of the second Reconstruction. While Trump should certainly be held accountable for his attempted coup if convicted, we should not fool ourselves into thinking that jailing Trump will extinguish the threat to democracy. The people who empower Trump and his pale imitations show no sign of relenting. We need to take a page out of the book of the people of Ohio and the people of Montgomery, Alabama and face them armed with our vote… and a folding chair.
So true!! Thanks for sharing. Nan