He painted a background to build up hatred of Hillary Clinton by claiming that she wanted to abolish the 2nd amendment. This claim gave him the shared hatred that he needed to be able to make the statement that there was something that the 2nd amendment people could do. This was a death threat and Trump should have been hauled away immediately. It was obvious at this point in time that he wasn't going to promote a peaceful democracy in the USA. He was going to continue promoting the idea of violence towards anyone who opposed him in anything he did. That is largely why he was pardoned by the Senate in his impeachment trial. He created the fear that he needed in order to maintain power. Needless to say, this is not how the USA has historically operated. We would not have the relatively peaceful history that we have if we had operated like this. This implicit death threat is the first reason Trump should be indicted after leaving office.
The second reason to indict him is for violating the emoluments clause. Trump has continued to steer national and international politicians, along with their friends, family and large security details, to become clients at his own properties. The Trump name has had limited appeal, historically. He has gone bankrupt numerous times and was likely nearing another bankruptcy when he was a presidential candidate in 2016. Winning the support of the electoral college in 2016 has saved Trump from another embarrassment of yet another failed business. He has been able to make millions of dollars from politics that he would not have otherwise made. For this, he should be indicted. Richard Painter, former ethics official under President George W. Bush, reminds us of the ethical free-fall in which the federal government has descended under Donald Trump.
Next, he should be indicted for bribery and extortion. Although we have several examples of Trump committing bribery, the most severe case involved both bribery and extortion of the president of Ukraine. Congress authorized funds to assist Ukraine in its war with Russia. The reason the USA needs to continue supporting Ukraine is that if Russia were to take Ukrainian territory by force, they will be emboldened to continue along that path and take other European nations by force, resulting in World War III. Trump's bribery and extortion of Ukraine thus increased the odds of a World War III scenario. Had it not been reported by the patriot in the intelligence community, we would currently be on a dangerous trajectory requiring increased US involvement in order to stop Russia's aggression. The expert witnesses who testified in the House of Representatives clarify things for us.
Finally, the fourth reason to indict Donald Trump is for human rights violations. Specifically, the actions Trump has taken against immigrants, asylum seekers, Hispanics and Muslims are reason to indict him. He has promoted discrimination any time he felt he could get away with it. Largely, he has gotten away with it. He has been limited by judges and by protests, which have scaled back his strategy of promoting hatred, but it hasn't stopped him. Trump took small children and babies from their mothers. He didn't track who he was taking away from who, so reuniting families has taken months and months. The harm done to the children who were taken from their parents is forever. They will need psychological therapy in order to deal with that trauma. Immigrants who are fleeing violence are currently not allowed to enter the USA under Trump--they're forced to remain in Mexico, where violence is outrageously high and these immigrants are being mugged, raped and abused on a daily basis. Trump has instilled a hatred within the rank-and-file of CBP that has led to several cases of rape from the people who are supposed to be enforcing the law. Trump has consistently acted in imitation of the authoritarian human rights abusers that the USA has historically fought to remove from power in other countries around the world. The right thing to do is to indict him.
It is painful to be at this point in US history. We don't typically indict former presidents, but we don't typically have presidents who behave with reckless disregard for societal norms, political norms and legal norms. Although presidents are allowed to disclose classified information at their own will, should they really be allowed to disclose classified information to the ambassador of a rival nation without cause for doing so? Should Trump really be allowed to get away with having told Russia's Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Kisliak about intelligence that the US received from Israel even though telling Lavrov and Kisliak served no purpose? We are in danger if Trump is allowed to remain free after leaving office. He is likely to disclose a number of other things to Russian officials if given the opportunity. Indicting him and imprisoning him is the only way to protect state secrets from becoming known by Russia.
Again, let's emphasize the degree to which Trump would rather help Russia than help the USA. Do you remember what he said in Helsinki? Here's a reminder.
Later, Trump tried to frame this as a language error on his own part. If the president has this much trouble with language, prison is the only safe place to keep him when he leaves office. Imprison him for his crimes. Appreciate that it is the right thing to do for his treasonous comments. It is the only option.
Later, Trump tried to frame this as a language error on his own part. If the president has this much trouble with language, prison is the only safe place to keep him when he leaves office. Imprison him for his crimes. Appreciate that it is the right thing to do for his treasonous comments. It is the only option.
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