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Republicans want to get rid of the "Rule of Law"


https://www.huffpost.com/


GOP SCHEME TO SHIELD TRUMP FROM FUTURE STATE INDICTMENTS[B][/B]

WASHINGTON — New legislation from House Republicans aims to prevent local district attorneys from pursuing charges against former presidents.

The symbolic bill is yet another show of support for Donald Trump, who faces the possibility of criminal charges in Georgia and was arraigned in Manhattan last week for allegedly violating state law with false business records.

Republicans have subpoenaed a former prosecutor from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, denounced the charges as entirely motivated by politics, and scheduled a Monday hearing to accuse Bragg of failing to prosecute real crimes.

Now comes a proposal that Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) said would “prevent political prosecutions” by moving cases against former presidents from state jurisdiction to federal court, where judges are confirmed by the Senate, an institution reliably influenced by elected Republicans.

“Politically motivated prosecutors should not be able to wield unwarranted power and target our nation’s top leaders for their own personal gain,” Fry said in a statement on his website.

Normally, state prosecutors and local district attorneys are responsible for prosecuting state crimes in state courts, while federal prosecutors, known as U.S. attorneys, pursue federal charges in federal courts. Fry said his bill, which he has not actually drafted, would allow presidents and vice presidents to move state cases into federal courts.

The proposal would seem to take all power away from state courts in cases of criminal behavior by former presidents, David Rapallo, an associate professor at Georgetown University Law School and former Democratic staff director for the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview. And federal judges who wind up with the cases would have to familiarize themselves with state laws and legal precedents.

“It does seem a little ironic coming from people who tout states’ rights and how state courts and state legislatures should be making even more decisions than they currently do,” Rapallo said.