Shortly after a Manhattan jury found him guilty on Thursday, former President Donald Trump denounced the verdict as a “shame” handed down by a “corrupt” judge in a “rigged” trial. The “real verdict” will be at the polls in November, where Trump confidently predicted “we're going to win.”
What the former president doesn't say is that he has frequently used that same legal system to his own advantage.
But the evidence presented in the Manhattan trial was strong, and the 12-member jury found Trump guilty. Over six weeks, the prosecution and defense presented reams of papers, documents, and recordings. The defense questioned and cross-examined more than 20 witnesses. Judge Juan Marchand blocked prejudicial testimony. At one point, the judge effectively did the defense's job, objecting to lewd questions the prosecution had asked a key witness. Still, Trump relentlessly attacked the judge.
The trial was complex and at times mind-numbingly tedious in the detail presented and the meticulous examination of evidence by the lawyers. Our legal system has evolved over centuries and is based on the belief that it is better not to punish the guilty than to condemn the innocent.
It's a process designed to ensure fairness — as commentators frequently point out, Trump can only be found guilty if all 12 jurors unanimously conclude that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And they did. In the eyes of the law, he is now Donald Trump, a former president and a convicted felon.
Trump faces three additional criminal indictments in Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C. Ironically, Trump's own actions demonstrate his faith in the institution he denounces: He routinely invokes rules of law designed to guarantee due process.
Trump's federal election interference trial was scheduled to begin on March 4 in Washington, D.C. But his legal team has argued he cannot be prosecuted for acts committed as president and is appealing the case all the way to the Supreme Court, using the same legal system that Trump attacks daily, making it unlikely a trial will take place before the election.
Similarly, the former president used our legal system to achieve delays in a lawsuit in Florida for mishandling classified documents, and a lawsuit in Georgia for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His lawyers used the rules and procedures of our legal system to delay both lawsuits for months, preventing voters from going to the polls in November to find out the results.
Don’t be fooled by Trump’s self-serving and baseless attacks on a legal system designed to ensure justice, not weaponize it.
Donald Neiman is professor of history and chancellor emeritus at the State University of New York at Binghamton and author of the forthcoming book, “The Road to Paralysis: How Our Politics Became Vicious, Dysfunctional, and a Threat to the Republic.”
This commentary was produced in partnership with The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to connecting academic experts to the general public.
