Justice for Sale
Justice is for sale—literally. The Trump administration included the Main Justice building on Pennsylvania Avenue on a list of properties it intends to put on the market. The reason? The property is “not core to government operations.” Wednesday morning they seemed to waffle a bit, taking down the list they’d published Tuesday and saying it was “coming soon.”
Still, Justice for sale is a powerful metaphor for where we are.
Main Justice, formally the Kennedy Building, houses the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the solicitor general, and their staffs, as well as a full range of prosecutors and staff who work in the National Security Division, the Criminal Division, the Civil Rights Division, the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, and many other offices. It’s a historic building full of fascinating architectural details and interior curiosities, like this gorgeous 1940s Symeon Shimin mural in the third floor stairway behind the Great Hall.
There is even a stuffed bear.
But of course, it’s the work that is done inside the confines of the narrow offices, often shared by two or more people, that defines justice in America. It’s where Robert F. Kennedy made the decisions that led to enforcement of the Civil Rights Act, where the investigation into Richard Nixon led to his resignation. The idea that Justice could be for sale hits a little too close to home right now.
It’s not just the Eric Adams case in New York, where the Department offered to dismiss public corruption charges against the sitting mayor so long as he offered political support for President Trump’s immigration policy. It’s not just the January 6 defendants who got pardons in exchange for their support. There is now an additional suggestion that, for those who can afford it, leniency is available.
Two years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged crypto founder Justin Sun and three of his companies with selling unregistered securities and fraudulently manipulating the price of digital token Tronix.
Then something happened. The SEC did an about face. Justin Sun bought $75 million of the $TRUMP coin. Now, the SEC has asked the court to pause proceedings so it can explore a settlement with Sun. Although this is a civil investigation, filed by the SEC in federal court, it’s the kind of matter often pursued in tandem with DOJ. It’s the kind of civil case with major implications for the person/company under investigation that should be pursued based on the facts and the law.
Now, there is the appearance that there is a price for leniency, in Trump crypto, if one can afford to pay it.
Today, in the Eastern District of New York, Hector Rosario, a former police detective, was convicted for lying to the FBI. Rosario was working with the Bonanno crime family. John Durham, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, issued a press release. In it, he said, “This corrupt detective chose to prove his loyalty to an organized crime family over the public he was sworn to protect. When police officers exploit their positions for personal gain, it erodes public trust in law enforcement. My Office has zero tolerance for corruption by any public officials, and will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that it is punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Zero tolerance for corruption by public officials. That’s what justice is supposed to be about. But in this moment, it appears that justice is for sale if a defendant has something to offer the man who sits in the White House.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
Trump is counting on the idea that there will be nothing left of the government we've become accustomed to and relied upon by the time our judicial system gets around to doing anything about it. That's the point of the speed with which he's moving.
For his entire life, he's used the mechanism of the law against itself. He used and continues to use the law's built-in safeguards to destroy fairness and evade justice. Finally, he hopes to use to the law as a puppet to enact his wishes.
If the destruction continues unabated, even if the legal system holds, even if the current GOP is repelled, repair on both the national and global scale will take an incalculable amount of time.
I would like to see more of our senators and representatives with their hair on fire.
A tale of two cities, Washington DC before and after January 20, 2025.