Pandora’s Donald Trump prosecution

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board says the charging of the former president is a sad day for America.

A Trump supporter outside the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday. Picture: AFP

The indictment of Donald Trump is a sad day for America, with political ramifications that are unpredictable and probably destructive. If there was ever a case that opens Pandora’s box, the first indictment of a former president in US history is it.

The charges relate to hush-money payments in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with Trump. The potential violations and pitfalls of the case in court don’t inspire confidence that this will go down well with the country, or even perhaps inside the courtroom.

We believe any prosecution of a former president should involve a serious offence. The evidence should also be solid enough that a reasonable voter would find it persuasive. The last thing a politically polarised America needs is a case in which partisans line up on either side like a political OJ Simpson trial. The prosecution must be seen by most of the country as an example of fair-minded justice.

That is doubly so when the case involves a former president who is running again, a prosecutor the belongs to the same party as the current president, and the suspicion of a political prosecution will be rampant. This is why we urged Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg not to revive a seven-year-old case that federal prosecutors declined to act on.

Trump has made clear he will make the prosecution part of his campaign. He will add this to the list of false Russian collusion claims, two failed impeachments, and the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago document raid. Whether that political defence succeeds will depend on how the case evolves in court in what will be a media circus for the ages. Trump’s reckless personal behaviour has made him as vulnerable as usual, but Democrat excess could rescue him again.

And there is no doubt that Bragg is doing what most Democrats want. They want Trump in the dock and at the centre of the political debate. Even if he’s not convicted, they figure the indictment and spectacle will help him become the Republican nominee. They think he is the easiest candidate to beat because he motivates Democrats and divides Republicans and independents. That is the lesson of the GOP election disappointments of 2018, 2020 and 2022.

Democrats also know that the indictment will put GOP challengers to Trump in a difficult position. They will have to take a stand on this prosecution, and maybe on others to come. They will be asked constantly about Trump, and not about the failures of the Biden presidency that the country should be debating.

The danger for America is the precedent this prosecution sets. Bragg is busting a norm that has stood for 230 years. Once a former president and current candidate is indicted, some local Republican prosecutor will look to make a name for himself by doing the same to a Democrat. US democracy will be further abused and battered. Bragg, the provincial progressive, is unleashing forces that all of us may come to regret.