Summary

Special counsel Jack Smith dropped 44 federal charges against Donald Trump, citing DOJ policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

The charges, including election interference and classified documents retention, could be refiled after Trump’s presidency.

Critics, including Rep. Dan Goldman and former Capitol officer Aquilino Gonell, decried the move as a miscarriage of justice, asserting it places Trump above the law.

Trump and allies celebrated the decision as a victory, with Vice President-elect JD Vance vowing to prevent similar prosecutions.

Democrats fear Trump will seek political retaliation, deepening national divisions.

  • DancingBear@midwest.social
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    25 days ago

    Fairly certain and it appears obvious the DOJ believes the president is totally immune.

    Part of the reason we are not members of the ICC.

    Part of the reason Dick Cheney is not in The Hague right now.

    Fairly certain United States has been a fascist country since at least 1790

    • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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      25 days ago

      Every single time someone tries to hold Trump accountable he claims it is a witch hunt.

      Every single time the charges don’t stick because of intimidation or corrupt judges the public believes that it is a witch hunt just a little more and it is harder to get people to take it seriously.

      This has happened so many times now that he has been able to win an election as a felon.

      The DOJ knows that even if they successfully charge Trump now, his administration will get him out of it. Their only hope is to put it on pause and wait for an opportunity to actually hold him accountable. Because there is no way that can happen after he won an election.

      • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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        25 days ago

        that fat fuck’ll be long dead before any justice could ever be served. justice within the legal system, that is.

      • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
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        25 days ago

        Their only hope is to put it on pause and wait for an opportunity to actually hold him accountable.

        it’s fucking over. he won the election, and he’s going to fucking pardon himself, die, or both before anyone holds anyone accountable.

        he’s going to gut any functional part of the legal system and get no reprimand.

      • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
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        25 days ago

        Because there is no way that can happen after he won an election.

        “A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.”

        • Alexander Hamilton
      • reddit_sux@lemmy.world
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        25 days ago

        According to what I heard on youtube from US lawyers, the statuette of limitation will run out by the time Orange Goo finishes with his current term. Leading to no trial. There is no pausing.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      25 days ago

      I wouldn’t go that far back, or say we’ve been a fascist country for that long.

      I put a lot of blame on Dems closing ranks for Bill back in the 90s.

      The root of the argument is semantic: The President has testified that he did not touch Lewinsky sexually. Lewinsky’s testimony, and that of her friends and colleagues claim he did.

      But the bottom line is whether this constitutes an impeachable offense. Again, Starr’s report claims there is ample evidence of Clinton lying under oath, and concealing evidence of his relationship with Lewinsky to begin impeachment proceedings. Lawyers for Clinton declared today that the President’s transgressions were “personal,” but do not constitute an impeachable offense.

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-clinton-lie-under-oath/

      Like, people still act like trump has some mastermind legal strategy when he’s just ripping off Bill by blurring the line between president and person.

      At the end of the day for decades both parties have agreed that regardless of which one of them is in charge, no one gets any consequences from the others.

      We can’t count on those groups holding each other accountable. Voters need to hold at least one party to a higher standard, or literally no one is ever going to be held accountable.

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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        25 days ago

        Until we have a different electoral system there is no way to hold a party accountable without losing an election.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
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          25 days ago

          Pretty sure y’all just lost the election spectacularly, so might as well hold the party accountable now that the worst has already happened.

          • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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            25 days ago

            They already think it’s cause they didn’t go far right enough. They’ve got their heads up their asses as always and won’t change as always.

            • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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              24 days ago

              Yeah right? Might as well use these next 4 years, organize and rally behind a real third party no? No?

              Oh y’all voting democrats again In 4 years? Blue no matter who?

              Yeah that’s what I thought

              • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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                24 days ago

                Which third party has any seats in any state legislature? Which one has anyone in Congress or a governorship?

                None of that will change in four years. If I quit my job and start right fucking now doing organizing - even though I don’t know what that entails other than dealing with people which I loathe - it will be a solid decade before any third party has any chance of controlling anything outside of a city council.

                • WanderingVentra@lemm.ee
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                  24 days ago

                  Maybe with that attitude. Bernie’s movement rose from people hating the word socialist to everyone freaking out one might become President in less than a year. The Bolsheviks went from 20,000 at the beginning of the year to more than 200,000 and taking over Russia by the October Revolution. Things can change quickly if people put in the effort. Things are already primed. People are looking for a change now.

                  If people want to look into local chapters of organizations, there’s the PSL (socialist), the FRSO (socialist), and the Greens (progressive). Working within the Democratic party is the WFP and DSA. I think it’s a bad idea, but there’s a faction in the DSA looking to separate from them more, maybe there is in the WFP, too, idk. There’s also even more local based organizations that focus on other issues but can be pulled into a political fight later, like tenants unions, Food Not Bombs, labor unions, the Tech Workers Coalition, things like that. Hopefully we can connect these struggles together at some point and make something viable.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          25 days ago

          For an honest attempt at it?

          No, it’ll never be a fair fight.

          But if we want a Dem primary in 2028, we need to keep demanding it, and we need to solidify around a candidate ASAP.

          Voters beat the party in 08, and they’ve had to walk back a lot of what Hillary changed in 2016 to prevent that.

          I still feel crazy that everyone ignored what happened to NH this “primary” but I don’t think we’re really at the point where Dems just appoint candidates without a primary.

          We just need a candidate that refuses to concede until more than a handful of chosen states vote.

            • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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              25 days ago

              Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet you can’t win.

              As true today as in 1987 when Heinlein wrote it

                • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                  25 days ago

                  With all due respect then, stop playing.

                  Don’t stick around to talk about how you no longer care, go spend your time on communities about different things.

                  Sometimes people need to disengage, just don’t half ass it. If you need a break from it, actually take a break. Hopefully you come back before the next election. But if you just talk about needing a break and never take one, you’ll never stop needing the break.

                  • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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                    25 days ago

                    I don’t want a break. That just means I’ve gotta come back and play the shitty game some more. I want to fuck off to the mountains and never talk to anyone ever again. I don’t want to hear about any of it ever again. The entire planet is fucked and there’s nothing I can do to prevent it, or even slow it down.

                    This is like saying “Well if you don’t like that you’re in a bus crash just take a break.” I can’t. I’m stuck here. This is the fucking NEWS community. Should I stop reading all news? Because it’s going to be decline and corruption for the rest of my life.

                    And it’s not just the news. Science memes is full of it. Solarpunk is full of it. Microblog memes is all politics. Technology is all Musk all the time.