Not every Republican is ripping into a “weaponized” Department of Justice or calling for Attorney General Merrick Garland to be impeached. Despite the contortions of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and other MAGA adherents with big megaphones, the self-styled “party of law and order” still has some members — however marginalized — that subscribe to America’s famous “innocent until proven guilty” maxim.
Inherent in that maxim is a willingness to see proof of guilt presented.
Former Arkansas Governor and current candidate for President Asa Hutchinson is the rare Republican who is willing to consider such proof when it comes to the myriad charges being brought against former President Donald Trump by multiple prosecutors. (Others have dismissed the charges outright, characterizing them as a political vendetta.)
[NOTE: There are no American maxims that say someone is “innocent because they are accused of crimes by people we don’t like.” If Bernie Madoff steals from Harvey Weinstein, it’s still a crime.]
Hutchinson is nearly alone among high-profile Republicans in believing the prosecution should not be tampered with through the defendant’s threats — and he brings his own experience as a U.S. Attorney to bear in celebrating the bravery of the DOJ prosecutors (and by extension, Georgia prosecutors including Fulton County DA Fani Willis) who are unintimidated by their task.
Addressing Trump’s alleged attempts to intimidate witnesses, prosecutors and judges, Hutchinson reveals: “While U.S. Attorney, I was targeted by a violent terrorist group who wanted to stop a prosecution I was leading. I was not intimidated.”
“Our justice system will not be stopped today or any other day,” Hutchinson concludes, “from pursuing truth & justice.”
While U.S. Attorney, I was targeted by a violent terrorist group who wanted to stop a prosecution I was leading. I was not intimidated.
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) August 17, 2023
Our justice system will not be stopped today or any other day from pursuing truth & justice.
Help me reach the debate: https://t.co/0t63rhaB7b
Hutchinson’s boast meshes with what U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote last week, after social media posts by Trump appeared to cross the line into threats. Lieu said the tactic wouldn’t work, precisely because people like Hutchinson are the rule, not the exception, in the history of American justice.
Lieu wrote: “In the history of the United States, the numbers of prosecutors who run away in fear after being publicly threatened by a criminal defendant is exactly zero. Illegal threats by a criminal defendant will make prosecutors work even harder.”
In the history of the United States, the numbers of prosecutors who run away in fear after being publicly threatened by a criminal defendant is exactly zero.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 4, 2023
Illegal threats by a criminal defendant will make prosecutors work even harder. https://t.co/egRUJ9zwcY
