Trump-Biden: Competing Accusations

Published in Corriere della Sera
(Italy) on 27 July 2023
by Massimo Gaggi (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Laurence Bouvard. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Once upon a time in America, there were election campaigns in which candidates faced off over their political visions and programs for social progress in employment, health, and education. At the current rate, the 2024 presidential election will consist of trench warfare fought in the courts.


While Donald Trump is notified by federal prosecutors that he will face a third indictment on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, a fourth indictment is on its way from Georgia. According to rumors, it will be the most serious — with incontrovertible evidence, including a recording of the telephone call in which Trump asks state election officials to “find” the 11,780 votes he needed to beat Joe Biden. This could be the gravest allegation to date: violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the anti-racketeering law, with the disclosure of a complex system of pressure and threats brought to bear on various officials, including the state governor, by the then president and his allies. One such ally is Rudy Giuliani who, sued by two election workers whom he had accused of vote-rigging, has just admitted making false statements, in order to avoid conviction. In the meantime, the Florida judge in charge of the second indictment on charges relating to mishandling classified documents has moved Trump’s trial from December to next May, still prior to the presidential election.

Instead of dumping an unprepossessing candidate, even one backed by an army of disciples, the Republicans are reacting to all this by trying to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in return. The prosecutors who had been negotiating with the president’s son, Hunter Biden, faced pressure to charge him with minor offenses and penalties that do not carry prison sentences, pressure which has led them to narrowly interpret the plea bargain which, so revised, was rejected by Hunter Biden’s lawyers, reopening the way to a trial.

Meanwhile, with the Trumpists in Congress determined to attack the current president, the unstable House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he wants to impeach Joe Biden, while other Republicans are holding back, fearing a boomerang effect given the inconsistency of the charges that would be brought. Once upon a time in America, there were election campaigns in which candidates faced off over their political vision and programs for social progress in employment, health, and education. At the current rate, the 2024 presidential election will consist of trench warfare fought in the courts. Rather than politics, we will discuss judges navigating their way through the litigation and lawyers with aces up their sleeves.



Trump-Biden, la gara delle accuse

di Massimo Gaggi | 27 luglio 2023

C’erano una volta, in America, le campagne elettorali nelle quali i candidati si confrontavano su visioni politiche e programmi — lavoro, sanità, istruzione — di progresso sociale. Avanti di questo passo le presidenziali 2024 saranno una guerra di trincea combattuta nei tribunali
Mentre Donald Trump riceve dalla procura speciale federale l’avviso di una terza incriminazione che gli sta per essere notificata, quella per l’assalto al Congresso del 6 gennaio 2021, dalla Georgia è in arrivo la quarta imputazione. Stando alle indiscrezioni, sarà la più pesante: prove difficili da contestare come la registrazione della telefonata nella quale Trump chiese ai responsabili degli scrutini elettorali di «trovare» gli 11.780 voti coi quali scavalcare Joe Biden. E l’accusa potrebbe essere la più grave fin qui formulata: violazione della Rico, la legge anti racket, essendo emerso un sistema articolato di pressioni e minacce esercitate su vari funzionari, e anche sul governatore dello Stato, dall’allora presidente e dai suoi collaboratori. Come Rudy Giuliani che, denunciato da funzionari elettorali da lui accusati di aver truccato il voto, per evitare condanne ha appena ammesso di aver detto cose false. Intanto il giudice della Florida che gestisce la seconda incriminazione, quella per i documenti top secret trafugati, ha rinviato il processo a Trump da dicembre a maggio, comunque prima dalle elezioni presidenziali.
Anziché scaricare un candidato impresentabile, anche se forte di un esercito di seguaci, i repubblicani reagiscono a tutto questo cercando di gettare fango anche su Biden: la pressione esercitata sui procuratori che avevano negoziato col figlio del presidente, Hunter, l’ammissione di reati minori e sanzioni che non comportano pene detentive, li ha indotti a dare un’interpretazione restrittiva di quel patteggiamento che, così rivisto, è stato respinto dagli avvocati di Hunter: anche qui si riapre la strada del processo.
Intanto, coi trumpiani in Congresso decisi a colpire lo stesso presidente, il traballante speaker della Camera Kevin McCarthy dice di voler puntare all’impeachment di Joe Biden, mentre altri repubblicani frenano temendo un effetto boomerang, vista la scarsa consistenza delle accuse che verrebbero formulate. C’erano una volta, in America, le campagne elettorali nelle quali i candidati si confrontavano su visioni politiche e programmi — lavoro, sanità, istruzione — di progresso sociale. Avanti di questo passo le presidenziali 2024 saranno una guerra di trincea combattuta nei tribunali: più che di politica, si parlerà di giudici che si barcamenano e di avvocati con l’asso nella manica.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Germany: The President and His Private Army

Topics

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Austria: The EU Must Recognize That a Tariff Deal with Trump Is Hardly Worth Anything

Mexico: The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Venezuela and President Nicholás Maduro

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Canada: Carney Takes Us Backward with Americans on Trade

Related Articles

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Canada: Carney Takes Us Backward with Americans on Trade