Donald Trump’s conviction on misuse of campaign funds has Republican heads exploding. They are calling the ruling politically motivated, blaming the Biden administration and the justice system and demanding the verdict be overturned.
But the real reason they are so angry is that they can’t do anything to influence the jury’s decision. Unlike the impeachment trials, they aren't able to block the verdict to allow Trump to go unpunished for his illegal actions.
Based upon his recent conviction, it's entirely possible that Trump would have lost in 2016 if the details regarding his infidelity and illegal payoff became public. Coming on the heels of the Access Hollywood video, it would likely be a bridge too far for many conservative voters. It could also have offset the controversy surrounding the FBI’s unnecessary re-opening of the Clinton email debacle.
Trump’s first impeachment trial resulted in an acquittal due to Republicans refusing to hold him accountable for his “perfect phone call” with Ukrainian President Zelensky. After the votes had been tallied, many Republicans who voted for acquittal openly admitted that while Trump had committed impeachable offenses, they rationalized their dereliction of their Constitutional duty by claiming that it was up to the voters to decide whether Trump deserved to remain in office.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) went as far as to claim that Trump had learned his lesson, whatever that means. Yeah, he certainly did! He learned that no matter what he did, Republicans would always allow him to evade the consequences of his actions.
That held true in his second impeachment trial as well. Despite overwhelming evidence, Republicans remained largely united in refusing to hold him accountable for the events of January 6th. This time they used the excuse that, since Trump was no longer in office, there was nothing to back a conviction. They conveniently ignored that by holding him liable, it would prevent him from seeking office again. They further argued that if Trump was to be held accountable, if was up to the legal system to make it happen.
Now Trump’s lawyers are trying to assert that the Senate acquittal meant that the charges brought by Jack Smith and the DOJ are a violation of the Double Jeopardy clause. The problem with this is that the Senate trial has no legal bearing on criminal acts. It’s a political function and not a legal one, therefore Double Jeopardy does not apply.
Republican Heads Exploding
All of these machinations have led Republicans to believe that they could block any potential consequences Trump might face for his actions. Which is why they are foaming at the mouth at the recent verdict. Their powerlessness in preventing Trump from being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records has their collective heads exploding.
So, the party of law and order is taking a new approach. They are slamming the judge, the jury and the legal process. MAGA followers are threatening to dox, or release the personal information including names, addresses, workplaces, family member information and any other details they consider relevant to threaten and intimidate the judge, jury and prosecuting attorneys.
Trump has gone as far as to suggest that his followers wouldn’t stand for any form of punishment. He has indicated that if he were given prison time, or even put under house arrest, they would resort to violence to get his release.
They have made this claim before. Trump toady Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed that if Trump was indicted, his followers would take to the streets in protest, similar to the January 6th insurrection. He’s been indicted four times, and there has been nary a peep other than rants on social media.
Republican lawmakers are united in their outrage. But because they cannot impact the conviction, they are doing what any mature adult would do: holding their breath, stomping their feet and demanding a do-over just as they had when they refused to accept the results of the 2020 election.
Some have even gone as far as to sign a petition declaring that they would not support any Biden initiatives or approve any of his nominations until the convictions are reversed, not that they would anyway, so this is nothing more than a hollow threat.
Others, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump himself, have demanded that the Supreme Court intervene to correct this perceived injustice. After all, Johnson claims to have friends on the bench and Trump, who appointed three of the current Justices, believes they will side with him out of loyalty.
The mere fact that they cannot block Trump from being punished for his crimes, like they did in both his impeachment trials, is incredibly frustrating for the MAGA base and Republicans in general. All they can do is stew and loudly protest the results.
It will do nothing to change the result, so Republican heads are literally exploding,
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