The extreme right has manipulated a portion of the population to believe that the charges against Trump are a “witch hunt.”
Trump’s four criminal indictments were made by independent grand juries. Neither President Biden, Jack Smith, nor Alvin Brag indicted Donald Trump.
Under both federal and state law, a grand jury is empaneled under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution[1] in cases where a person is facing felony offenses punishable by death or more than one year in prison.[2]
Grand juries act as a buffer between the Government and the people, providing a check on governmental power.[3]
Prosecutors must recognize that the grand jury is an independent body, “whose functions include not only the investigation of crime and the initiation of criminal prosecution but also the protection of the citizenry from unfounded criminal charges.”[4]
Grand juries are made up of approximately 16-23 members. Members of the grand jury are selected at random from a pool of persons living within the county it serves. At least twelve jurors must concur to issue an indictment.
Criminal prosecutors present the case to the grand jury. The grand jury listens to the prosecutor and witnesses, and then votes in secret on whether they believe that enough evidence exists to charge the person with a crime.
The grand jury has no power to convict someone of a crime—they can only issue an indictment. A grand jury may decide not to charge an individual based upon the evidence and no indictment would come from the grand jury.[5]
The mantra that different rules are being applied to Trump is a carefully cultivated myth. Trump was indicted and charged the way it was designed to by the framers of the Constitution.
The courts must now follow the law and their own rules to hold Trump to account. No person is above the law, including Trump.[6]
[1] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-5/#:~:text=No%20person%20shall%20be%20held,the%20same%20offence%20to%20be
[3] United States v. Williams, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 90-1972. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/90-1972.ZS.html
[6] https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/alexander-hamilton-federalist-no-78-1788
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