Trump Did It Is Not a Legal Defense

Apparently, we have reached the stage of American life where Donald Trump can be blamed for things people are accused of doing before he even arrives at the courthouse.

Stub your toe? Trump.

Lose your keys? Probably Trump.

Get accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at Teslas and spray-painting “Nazi cars” on a dealership?

Well, now we may need a federal judge to sort out Trump’s role in that, too.

The Times-Call reports that Lucy Nelson, a Colorado woman facing federal charges connected to alleged attacks on a Loveland Tesla dealership, is asking a judge to dismiss the case on grounds of selective prosecution. Her attorneys argue the Trump administration targeted her for especially harsh treatment because of the political nature of the alleged crimes. She also faces state felony charges.

Now, that is a serious allegation.

If the federal government singled her out because officials disliked her politics, prove it. If prosecutors were ordered to treat Tesla cases differently for political reasons, explain why. If similar defendants committing similar crimes received dramatically different treatment, put the comparison on the table.

Government does not get a free pass simply because I happen to dislike the defendant’s politics.

But neither does the defendant.

That part seems increasingly difficult for America to remember.

There was a time when personal responsibility was not considered some exotic conservative hobby, like collecting Reagan campaign buttons or knowing how to change your own oil.

You did something. There were consequences.

Then you argued about whether the government could prove you did it.

Pretty simple system.

Today, we seem increasingly tempted to skip that uncomfortable middle section and sprint straight toward ideological cosplay. Before anybody establishes what happened, we assemble the partisan costumes, assign the villains, and turn an individual criminal case into the Battle for Western Civilization.

Here is the common-sense version.

First question: What is Nelson actually accused of doing, and can prosecutors prove it?

Federal authorities allege a series of incidents at the Loveland dealership involving graffiti and incendiary devices. Those remain allegations, and Nelson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Second question: Was she prosecuted differently because of politics?

That deserves evidence too.

Statements from Washington matter. Charging decisions matter. Comparable cases matter. Orders from Justice Department leadership would certainly matter.

But “Trump” is not a magic word that makes the original alleged conduct disappear.

That is the part making my old radio-guy brain smoke a little.

A free country cannot survive without limits on government power. Selective prosecution is dangerous because government should not punish enemies and protect friends.

But a free country also cannot survive when citizenship becomes an endless exercise in explaining why somebody else is responsible for our own choices.

Both truths fit in the same head.

Make the government show its receipts.

Make the defendant answer for the evidence.

Let the judge decide whether politics corrupted the prosecution.

And please, for the sake of the Founders who are already spinning in their graves fast enough to power half the Front Range, let us rediscover this ancient American concept:

You are responsible for what you do.

Even when Donald Trump is president.

Especially when blaming him would be a whole lot easier.

Source: news.google.com