It seems there is only one major thing in the news this weekend, the anticipated indictment of Donald Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.  The potential indictment is a result of the $130,000 in hush money that Trump paid to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election to ensure her silence about their earlier affair.  I had not intended to write about this prematurely, until it actually comes to pass, but there is so much smoke blowing – toxic smoke – that I thought it required a bit of dissection.

First, let me just say that while his affair with Ms. Daniels and then his attempt to pay more money than most of us will ever see in one place at one time to buy her silence are terrible.  The affair itself is an indicator of a person without morals or values, the hush money may be a violation of Federal Election Commission rules.  That is not for us to decide.  That said, it is interesting and disappointing that this is the first potential indictment Trump will face, for while it is terrible, there are numerous other crimes he has committed that are far more horrible on a far larger scale.  I would much rather see pending indictments for his role in plotting the attempted coup on January 6^th 2021, and for his theft of classified documents upon leaving the White House, and for his recorded effort to coerce Georgia officials to change the vote count.  These are all definite crimes that there is no doubt he committed.  And those may yet come, however first there is this case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

The rhetoric surrounding the case is what’s keeping it in the headlines.  Here are a few examples:

• “The idea of indicting a president of the United States is deeply troubling to me as it is to tens of millions of Americans – and particularly happening in what appears to be a politically charged environment in New York where the attorney general and other elected officials literally campaigned on a pledge to prosecute the former president.” – Former VP Mike Pence who was the main target of the January 6^th insurrection
  • I would respond to Mr. Pence that as a citizen, it is ‘deeply troubling’ to have had a president who lied to us, cheated us, and conned us for four years!
• “This is unAmerican and the radical Left has reached a dangerous new low of Third World countries. Knowing they cannot beat President Trump [sic] at the ballot box the Radical Left will now follow the lead of Socialist dictators and reportedly arrest President Trump [sic], the leading Republican candidate for President of the United States.” – Representative Elise Stefanik (New York)
• “This is a personal sexual situation. What about Bill Clinton? That wasn’t worse? This guy allegedly – and I’m telling you it’s untrue. As his personal friend, I’m going to tell you categorically she’s lying. Categorically. And I know I say that all the time. I can tell you personally why I know that. She’s a damn liar! Manhattan has suffered unbelievable levels of crime under this incompetent and communist – this Soros paid for piece of I don’t know what.” – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
• “If the Manhattan DA indicts President Trump, he will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win. And those Republicans that stand by and cheer for his persecution or do nothing to stop it will be exposed to the people and will be remembered, scorned, and punished by the base. President Trump did nothing wrong and has always fought for the American people, and we all know it, which is why we love him.” Representative Marge Greene (Georgia)

And then, as if the voices weren’t already causing our ears to ring and making us feel ill, Kevin McCarthy steps in and says …

“Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump. I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

This from the man who is the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, hired to represent the people of this nation, not to defend a lying criminal!  Thus far, all his ‘investigations’ have been a waste of taxpayer dollars, as this one will be also.  I guess he needs to do this to stay on the good side of Trump, though.

But the one thing that concerns me most over this is the potential for violence.  All the above voices are enough to bring out the die-hard trumpists, but to throw a can of fuel on the fire, Trump himself had to jump into the fray with one of his ALL CAPS rants that is eerily reminiscent of his “Big protest in D.C. on January 6^th. Be there, will be wild!” on December 19^th, 2020 …

“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

We saw the results on January 6^th of his tweet, and my concern is that we will see similar results this week when and if he is indicted in Manhattan.  Mind you, that is NOT a reason for the prosecution to back off, not a reason for any of the cases against Trump to be halted or slowed, but it is a very real possibility that must be considered.

And it is being considered.  I understand that meetings have been going on throughout the week among city, state and federal law enforcement agencies in New York City about security preparations for a possible indictment of Trump.  Let us hope that lessons were learned by the events of January 6^th and that law enforcement will be far better prepared this time.

While there may be an indictment, and there may be a fine, I do not operate under any illusions that Trump will be arrested or see the inside of a jail cell, so you can put that dream to bed right now.  Again, this is not even the most important case pending against him … I almost think this is something of a trial balloon, testing the waters for future cases on more important issues.