Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore
Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman of The Wall Street Journal reports how 91 counts that seemed poised to end Trumps campaign instead made it stronger than ever. They write:
A year ago, the legal system seemed to be closing in on Donald Trump.
Prosecutors painted a sweeping portrait of a president who allegedly tried to overturn the results of an election he knew he lost, hung on to classified documents he knew he should return and secretly paid off a porn star to keep quiet about an affair he knew voters would care about. No one in America, prosecutors said, not even a former president, is above the law.
Instead, the four different cases against him have both boosted his third bid for the White House—and paved the way for him to enjoy an unprecedented level of authority if he gets there.
While a Manhattan jury in May found Trump guilty on 34 counts in the hush-money case, jailtime seems unlikely. His other cases have been delayed and likely curtailed in court. Instead of turning off voters with their detailed descriptions of misconduct, the prosecutions rallied supporters to his side.
The Supreme Court’s decision this week to effectively shield Trump from prosecution for many acts he took as president has cast into sharper focus a question that has haunted criminal investigations of the former president from the start: If the point of prosecution is to hold someone accountable for wrongdoing and punish them within the judicial system, what happens if that prosecution ends up being a political gift? […]
Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the decision as even better than expected. “Brilliantly written and wise,” he posted on social media in all caps. “Proud to be an American!” The next day, the Trump campaign announced it had raised another $111.8 million in June, the first month after his New York conviction.
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