Trump's co-conspirators should still be prosecuted

In Part 3 of 3 on the Trump cases, we look at the co-conspirators and co-defendants and why they should still be prosecuted -- even if Trump might pardon them.

As we now complete our look at the Trump cases, it’s time to turn our attention beyond Donald Trump — because there is still justice to be done, even if the greatest part of that justice has been undone.

3 - None of Trump’s co-defendants and co-conspirators has any immunity whatsoever, and so there is no reason why those individuals should not be prosecuted and brought to trial — and in the case of the DOJ January 6 case, they should now be indicted, regardless of whether Trump may pardon them (plus in the state cases, Trump can’t pardon them).

There is one more critical thing that we must not forget about the Trump cases: Donald Trump was not the only defendant or conspirator in those cases. In no case did he act alone.

• In the DC January 6 case, there were six unindicted co-conspirators and a slew of other individuals who appear to deserve that title.

• In the classified documents case, there are two co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

• In the Manhattan case, there were no co-defendants, but there were allegations that Trump carried out the crimes with former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg (plus, of course, former Trump Organization General Counsel Michael Cohen, who cooperated and testified).

• In the Georgia case, there are 14 co-defendants still in the case.

Here’s the thing about these individuals, though. None of them are about to be sworn in as president. In fact, none of them have ever been president, at any time. So none of them have any special monarchical immunity wrongly bestowed upon them by a Supreme Court seeking to shield the man who appointed them (or whom they count as an ideological ally) or by a Department of Justice that was seeking to shield various predecessors for whom they worked.

In fact, just to be crystal clear about this, even in DOJ’s terribly misguided memoranda declaring that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution, they note that a vice president does NOT enjoy such immunity. The terribly misguided immunity is reserved for the president alone.

Rudy Giuliani wanted to be president, and Rudy and John Eastman both used to be attorneys, but none of that gives you presidential immunity from criming.

So when any of these cronies wants to make the cockamamie argument that they too should get immunity because of “executive privilege” — because they were a close advisor to the president, because they hung out in the Oval Office and he let them sit behind his empty desk and use his Sharpies and twirl around in his chair, because they routinely were granted an audience to binge on hamberders with His Orangeness — you now know that they are completely 100% wrong. No one else gets that presidential immunity.

So why are so many people acting as though these cases are totally dead?

Even if the prosecutors are standing down regarding Donald Trump, they need to be standing up and continuing to prosecute everyone else not named Donald Trump.

Now, of course there is the strong possibility that Trump will arrive in office and immediately pardon all of his co-defendants and co-conspirators — but this is not a sufficient reason to stop prosecuting those individuals.

First, we have to make him grant those pardons. Make him act like a banana republic dictator, pardoning the cronies with whom he was accused of engaging in nearly 100 felony counts of criminal activity. It makes him look weak. It makes him look guilty. It makes him look like he has something to hide. And we all can and should be making those arguments, loudly and clearly, weakening him and eroding his public support.

And again, anything less than that is obeying in advance. We cannot run around anticipating what Dear Leader is going to do and then doing it for him. There’s no use - he’s just going to pardon them anyway - so we might as well just dismiss all of the co-defendants too. This is the equivalent of saying oh Mr. President, gosh, don’t go through all the trouble of pardoning those folks, here, we’ll do it for you.

To the contrary, DOJ should file new indictments right now of the six unindicted co-conspirators in the Trump January 6 case — likely Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark, Kenneth Chesebro, and Boris Epshteyn — as well as any other individuals who merit indictment.

Yes, Trump may then pardon those co-conspirators.

Fine. But make him do it.

Second, and critically — Trump cannot pardon the Georgia co-defendants. The president can only issue pardons as to federal crimes, not state or local crimes, and as for Georgia, pardons can only be issued by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. So the governor of Georgia cannot pardon those individuals either.

So while the Fulton County DA’s office may decide to throw in the towel with regard to Trump — rather than arguing that DOJ’s presidential immunity memoranda have no force of law when it comes to Georgia state prosecutions — there is absolutely no justification whatsoever for not continuing to pursue the prosecution with the other 14 co-defendants. Fulton County should move to separate Trump from the others, fight the legal fight as to Trump, and move forward with taking the other 14 defendants to trial.¹

Finally, there are the cases where Trump was never indicted to begin with, as in Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada, where the defendants are all co-conspirators and fake electors. There has been no indication that these cases will not proceed,² and again, Trump cannot pardon his way out of them. In Arizona and Michigan, the governor issues pardons (and both governors happen to be Democrats currently); in Nevada, there is a Board of Pardons. So the cases must continue.

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Justice must be administered blindly, or it is not justice. And We the People deserve to know the truth of what happened in these cases — and the chance to serve on juries to decide whether the accused parties are guilty or not. We the People deserve our day in court, where the harms we have suffered can be vindicated. We must continue to demand this, even when — and especially when — that drive for justice meets headwinds.

1. The case is currently stuck, as the appellate court that was slated to rule on the motion to disqualify Fulton County DA Fani Willis and to dismiss the case decided to postpone an oral argument on the appeal and has not yet set a new date. Yet, again, there is no reason why the election of Donald Trump should affect the other 14 co-defendants. The appeal must proceed, and if separating (or even dismissing) Trump is what it takes for the rest of the case to progress, so be it.

2. The Nevada case may not go forward, but for a legal issue on venue in that case, rather than anything having to do with Trump or immunity.