A Tale of Two Defendants

Tuesday night, House Speaker Mike Johnson told the Republican national convention, “We in the Republican Party are the law and order team.” He said that as they prepare to nominate a convicted felon to be president. A man who spent over a year lying to the National Archives and Justice Department about the fact that he was keeping classified documents in publicly accessible bathrooms and the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

If you're shameless enough, you can say anything. Apparently, if you repeat it often enough, some people will believe it. Just like Donald Trump's claims that there is a two-tiered criminal justice system, and he's the victim of it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today, we have the tale of two defendants under prosecution.

Tuesday afternoon, a jury convicted New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez on all 18 charges in the indictment against him. He was tried alongside two co-defendants. His wife, also charged, will be tried separately. Menendez was convicted of multiple conspiracies, bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction, and other charges related to a scheme where Menendez traded his power as a senator for cash. And gold bars. It’s crass public corruption.

A number of the charges, including honest services wire fraud and Hobbs Act Extortion, carry maximum 20-year sentences. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the Judge is likely to impose a sentence that is much lower, but it will still be tied to the dollar amount of the fraud, which is significant. Over half a million dollars in cash was recovered when search warrants were executed at Menendez’s home and his wife’s bank safe deposit box, and the guidelines include enhancements for people who abuse a position of public trust to commit their crimes, like the Senator did. Menendez will likely spend a meaningful amount of time in custody.

DOJ first indicted Menendez in September 2023. Even with two superseding indictments adding additional charges, his trial began a mere eight months later.

Trump has been indicted in four separate cases:

• In March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges of falsifying business records related to hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to procure her silence about their sexual encounter. He was convicted on all charges on May 30, 2024, but in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that Trump enjoys broad presidential immunity, Judge Juan Merchan is reevaluating the validity of the conviction, and sentencing has been postponed until September 18.

• In June 2023 for mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case on July 15, 2024, ruling that the Special Counsel’s appointment violated the Constitution.

• In August 2023, Trump was charged with election interference in connection with the 2020 election. Proceedings in that case have been stayed since late last year while Trump pursued an appeal and ultimately persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that he has immunity for official acts. That case was set to gear back up within the next couple of weeks, but Trump is now likely to seek a further stay following Judge Cannon’s decision on the constitutionality of the special counsel process.

• In August 2023, Trump and 18 others were charged in a state RICO case in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with the 2020 election. Four defendants have already pled guilty, but the case is on hold at least until December when a Georgia appellate court will consider whether District Attorney Fani Willis can continue to prosecute the case. Under Georgia law, they have until March 2025 to rule.

Of the four cases, all involving serious felony charges against Trump, one now stands dismissed, two are indefinitely delayed, and even the jury unanimously convicting him is in question. If there is, in fact, a two-tiered justice system, Trump is certainly the beneficiary of it.

When Menendez was indicted, there were no cries of witch hunt from the ranks of Democrats. There were no claims that the Justice Department had been weaponized. Apparently, there are some people in politics who still believe in the rule of law, just not in the party that claimed so boldly tonight that it is the party of law enforcement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has called for Menendez to resign. Meanwhile, the Republican party is in the process of embracing Donald Trump as its nominee to lead the country.

It’s a discouraging moment. But Donald Trump is not inevitable. Four months is a long time in an election cycle, and a lot can happen. What we can do is to share ideas and information, like what’s in the newsletter tonight, with people around us. Trump has eluded justice in the courts, at least for now. But he doesn’t have to at the hands of the voters; that’s up to us.

Thank you for being here with me. And thank you to those of you whose paid subscriptions make it possible for me to devote time and resources to writing Civil Discourse. Let’s make sure we do everything we can to keep the Republic.

We’re in this together,

Joyce