This story was originally published by Real Clear Wire
By Newt Gingrich
Real Clear Wire
America is now forced to contemplate the first false conviction in presidential political history.
As a historian, I was really disturbed when I heard lawyers on television describe these proceedings as if they had something to do with the rule of law and normal legal process.
It is clear that what happened to President Donald J. Trump in Judge Juan Merchan’s court was not a legitimate conviction. Nearly every element of the claim is false. Therefore, the result is false.
To say President Trump is now a convicted criminal – as the left and his propaganda media allies practically sing – is to legitimize the most corrupt judicial event in American presidential history.
The burden of proof is not on President Trump. They remain innocent citizens framed by corrupt district attorneys, judges, and the Biden Justice Department.
Don’t just take my word for it. Try what the experts have to say.
Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard, attended many hearings and condemned in strong language in his newsletter:
“I have observed and participated in trials all over the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in almost 40 of our 50 countries.
But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle like the one I saw sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.
“The judge in Donald Trump’s trial is an absolute tyrant, even though he appears to the jury as a benevolent despot. He seems to automatically rule against the defendant every time.
George Washington Law Professor and legal analyst Jonathan Turley said, “But before the jurors left, Judge Juan Merchan conducted deliberations in a way that looked more like jury deliberation than a canned hunt.”
Lawyer Mike Davis on the TV show Just the News “No Noise” said: “I will say first of all that there is no crime here. They wait until after the trial for weeks to even tell the criminal defendant what legal charges he has to defend himself in before the court. He had no chance to defend himself.”
Innocent citizens who are “hunted down,” in Turley’s parlance, cannot be blamed honestly. I therefore argue that this is a false belief.
Again, I’m not the only one who thinks this.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hardly likes President Trump, said, “These charges shouldn’t have been made in the first place. I expect the convictions to be overturned on appeal.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “a shameful day in American history,” and continued, “Alvin Bragg targeted his political opponents, made unprecedented accusations, and denied the Constitutional right to a fair trial.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik sums up corruption and dishonesty well:
“The facts are clear: this is a zombie case illegally pursued by corrupt prosecutors who did Joe Biden’s political bidding in a desperate attempt to save Joe Biden’s failed campaign.
He pointed out that the case hinged on the word of Michael Cohen, who has a history of perjury and an ax to grind with Trump. They pointed out that members of Judge Merchan’s family profited from the case, that they gave unconstitutional orders to Trump, and repeatedly followed suit during the case.
Mark Steyn captures why we must insist that these beliefs are false and reject any attempt to show that Trump is wrong. As Steyn writes: “to pretend that there is anything ‘good’ about it to be respected is to make evil and corruption respectable and bi-partisan.”
Ironically, the Senate hearing involving smears and salacious sexual accusations led by then-Sen. Joe Biden 33 years ago, we were taught the horrible, corrupt, and disgusting actions of Supreme Court Justice candidate Clarence Thomas.
After being repeatedly slandered by senators on the Biden committee, on October 11, 1991, Thomas said:
“This is a circus. This is a national disgrace. And from my point of view as a black American, as far as I’m concerned, this is a high-tech lynching of unscrupulous blacks, who in no way can think for themselves, do for themselves, have different ideas, and that is the message that unless you kowtow to the old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be killed, destroyed, caricatured by the US Senate committee, instead of being hanged on a tree.
The next generation, President Trump, is learning what Justice Thomas learned in 1991: Challenge the establishment, and everything will destroy you.
Every time you talk to someone who says President Trump is a convicted felon, show them that this is a false belief. Challenge them to defend the dishonest and corrupt people who put the country through this mess – starting with President Biden, the corrupt and dishonest leader.
For more comments from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. Also subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and is available via RealClearWire.