Trump’s crimes were not victimless. The victims were Roe v. Wade, gun safety laws and more.
We, The People, are the victim of Trump's crimes
“The defendant DONALD J. TRUMP repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”
That is the first line of the “Statement of Facts” that the Manhattan DA released in connection with Trump’s 34 count felony indictment for falsifying business records. Trump committed his alleged crimes for one reason: To win the 2016 election.
Trump—who lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes—knew the election would be close. That is why Trump—along with his former attorney Michael Cohen and the head of AMI Media—came up with the illegal scheme to suppress negative news stories about Trump.
That is exactly what the “Statement of Facts” tells us: “From August 2015 to December 2017, the Defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects.”
The charging document specifically explains that the “negative information” that was illegally hidden from voters include a $30,000 payment to Trump’s former doorman to not go public with a claim Trump had a child out of wedlock. Plus payments to suppress news of Trump’s affairs with two different women—including one that was on the verge of being released just days before the 2016 election.
Trump ended up winning the Electoral College vote by about 79,000 votes in three key states: Michigan by 10,704, Pennsylvania by 46,765 and Wisconsin by 22,177 votes.
Despite what some want you to believe, this was NOT a victimless crime. The victims of Trump’s crimes are millions of Americans impacted by Trump becoming President. Most notably, Trump’s victory--enabled by his crimes--gave Trump the White House where he was able to pack the Supreme Court giving us the current 6 to 3 GOP extreme right-wing composition.
From there, Trump’s three hand-picked Justices were the key part of the 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. This ruling has empowered the GOP to impose their religion as law, thus, depriving women of freedom and equality.
Women will die because Roe was overturned by Trump’s justices since numerous GOP controlled states are now forcing women to carry a fetus to term. That is not hyperbolic rhetoric. Experts have stated that by banning abortion, the result will be “more maternal deaths.”
In the same week the GOP Supreme Court overturned Roe, the six right wing justices overturned a New York law designed to save lives from gun violence. In this case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, the GOP Justices not only struck down a 1911 New York state law concerning concealed carry of weapons, their decision made it easier for courts to strike down other gun safety laws.
Since that decision, other right wing federal judges have cited Bruen when striking down long standing laws designed to save lives from gun violence. The most alarming occurred in February when the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a federal law prohibiting individuals from “possessing a firearm while under a domestic violence restraining order.”
As experts have noted, access to a gun makes it five times more likely that the abusive partner will kill his female victim. These GOP judges apparently don’t care about that. Nor do they appear concerned that nearly two-thirds of intimate partner homicides in the United States are committed with a gun—with 80 percent of intimate partner firearm homicide victims being women.
Besides this horrific domestic violence ruling, a West Virginia judge applying Bruen struck down a federal law that required guns to have serial numbers. Another judge in Texas ruled that individuals under criminal indictments can possess guns.
Again, people will literally die because Trump was able to win the White House by way of his crimes and then appoint three right wing Justices who undermined laws to save lives from gun violence.
There is also this GOP Supreme Court striking down EPA regulations designed to address climate change—as we saw in 2022. That is when the six conservative justices dealt a major blow to the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate carbon emissions that cause climate change. This will impact the health and lives of generations to come.
We are also seeing this right wing court usher in the end to the wall between Church and State. Their goal—like Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert—is to establish the United States as a Christian nation where religious law will rule. Again, I’m not being hyperbolic. Rep. Boebert publicly stated in 2022 to a cheering crowd of supporters, “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk — that’s not in the Constitution.” She added, “The church is supposed to direct the government.” The Supreme Court is on that very path.
Beyond these court decisions, Trump’s victory gave him four years in the White House to embolden white supremacy, bigotry and cruelty. This led —tragically-to a record number of hate crimes versus the communities Trump targeted.
Trump also attempted a coup and incited the Jan 6 terrorist attack—committing at least four crimes as the Jan 6 House committee has detailed in their referral to DOJ. Even if Trump ends up in prison, we are now left with a GOP where 51% percent view the Jan 6 terrorist attack as act of “patriotism.” We can expect that number to rise as Trump increasingly “glorifies” the Jan 6 attackers as he did at his rally in Waco two weeks ago. This is what fascism looks like—and again that is not hyperbolic.
In the razor close 2016 election, if the public learned that Trump had paid $30,000 to keep conceal a story that he allegedly had a child out of wedlock plus secretly paid hush money to hide his two affairs, Hillary Clinton wins. And the result would’ve been none of the above things would’ve happened.
Now tell us again that there are no victims to Trump’s crimes.
YES! Not to mention the psychological trauma the illegitimate president has caused to his targeted minorities (Muslims-Jews, Mexicans, Chinese Blacks, Women, Gays and Transgender.)
Thank you Dean!! I am a mom of young girls who have less rights. They will have to jump through greater hoops to vote. If one is LGBT+ then there will laws to harm them. He CRIMED against US!! And I'm tired of the media living in the dumb "if it isn't murder on 5th Ave" universe, when it comes to his criminality. He crimes. He gets charged. He gets his day in court. We need to stop deifying our leaders. It's silly and leads to wreckless rich people.