In reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump tweeted, “He had to appoint more conservative judges to the Court.” What he meant was, he has to find a corruptible judge to appoint. Judges Neal Gorsuch And Brett Kavanaugh demonstrated by their votes they cannot be corrupted. One of Trump’s most mob-like beliefs is that people he appoints to positions owe him total loyalty, even if it involves committing illegal activity. In other words, in his mind, he owns people, as if they were slaves.
Trump has been on an anti-rule of law rampage since the corrupt Republican Senate voted not to remove him from office during the impeachment trial, despite knowing he committed crimes against our democracy. These Senators have unleashed the most corrupt, dangerous President in United States history, and continue to hide like cowering sheep in their offices inside the esteemed halls of the Capitol. However, this week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of democracy in two major cases regarding the right for state criminal prosecutors and congressional committees to pursue access to the President’s tax and financial records.
It seems Trump’s commitment to law and order applies to everyone but him. His passionate re-election theme of being the law and order President is nothing more than pandering for votes from the law enforcement voting bloc and from racists who oppose the movement for racial justice. Today the Supreme Court reminded him that precedent has been set for 200 years that no one, including Presidents, is above the law. Because he is illiterate in his knowledge of ( or belief in ) the Constitution, he is delusional about being exempt from accountability to any law. Chief Justice Roberts cited both President Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were forced by law to turn evidence over to Congress in the investigations of their behaviors.
In the New York case, the Court ruling allows Cyrus Vance to continue to pursue obtaining the documents at the district court level that pertain to Trump’s role as a co-conspirator in the Stormy Daniels hush money payment. The ruling allows the House committee to continue to pursue financial records to discover if the President has engaged in business dealings with foreign countries that break U.S. laws or compromise him in any way that could threaten national security. All nine justices agreed that no President has immunity from accountability to the laws of the land. The vote was 7-2 to send the cases back to the district courts to pursue documents needed in the investigations against Trump.
The White House presented their familiar spin on bad news about Trump by saying it was a win for the President because the Court did not rule for him to release his records. However, Trump’s reaction on Twitter revealed he did not see the vote by the Court as a win. He whined about being a “victim of political persecution” worse than any other President. He left out the part that none of the other Presidents he is referring to committed crimes against the rule of law. The cases brought against Trump are all based on suspicious behaviors of his that have alarmed our legal and judiciary systems. These investigations are aimed at assessing to what degree the President abuses the power of his office, obstructs of justice, or engages in activities with foreign leaders that threaten our democracy and national security.
Trump’s anger at the Court’s decision was aimed at Judge Gorsuch and Judge Kavanaugh as they voted with the liberal judges to uphold the standard that a President is subject to the same scrutiny as any other citizen or resident of the United States. Trump has governed in the style of an autocrat by breaking laws, defying norms, and mistakenly declaring that Article II of the Constitution says he “can do anything he wants.” By appointing an Attorney General who believes a President should have total power unrestrained by any laws or investigations, the United States government is functioning like a banana republic, not a democracy. Every American, of either party, will severely suffer if the negative direction Trump is taking the country continues.
However, the Courts decision this week is a reminder that democracy is still intact despite the corrupt, anti-American ideology of Trump’s presidency. This decision revealed that Trump’s appointees Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are not bound to loyalty to him, but rather are loyal to the rule of law in the Constitution. Trump appoints people to positions based on their promise of allegiance to him, not because of their qualifications. He naively thought that Supreme Court judges would follow the pattern of the other appointees who lie for him and side with him even when he is on the wrong side of the law or engaged in immoral acts. However, he was reminded by the Justices vote that their loyalty is to defend the Constitution, not to do his bidding. The ruling was the most forceful, public rebuke of Trump’s attempt to transform our democracy into an autocratic state.
Hopefully, in November, the Trump nightmare will end. However, while we still must endure his constant assault on American laws and values, we can feel confident that even a conservative, Trump-appointed Supreme Court judge will defend the Constitution over a corrupt President who thinks he is above the law.
