What did Donald Trump do today?
He said it was unfair that people convicted of lying to Congress should go to jail when people who didn't lie to Congress walk free.
Trump's friend and campaign surrogate Roger Stone was convicted today on all seven counts of witness tampering, lying to Congress, and obstruction of justice. Stone's crimes amounted to telling lies under oath to protect Trump by throwing Congress and the special counsel's investigation off the scent of Russia's connection via Wikileaks to the Trump campaign, and then threatening a witness who could expose him.
Trump reacted badly. He immediately posted this question on Twitter:
None of the people Trump mentioned—all either political enemies of his, or involved in some way with the investigation the illegal help Trump received from Russia to get elected—has been convicted of, investigated for, or even suspected of lying (or witness tampering) by his own Department of Justice. Stone's prosecution was overseen by US Attorney Jessie Liu, a Trump appointee who worked on his transition team.
How is this a bad thing?
- In a democracy, who is innocent and guilty of crimes is about more than whether or not the president likes them.
- It's bad when the president's friends and campaign team members are convicted of crimes related to their efforts to get a foreign country to interfere in his election.