The adage that “no one is above the law” should apply against partisan prosecutors, too. The Constitution gives them no role in electing the president, and no prosecutor should disrupt that democratic process. Yet, that is exactly what prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia are doing as they target President Trump on the eve of his forthcoming presidential campaign.
A county prosecutor should have only the same solitary vote in a presidential election as every other American citizen, rather than misusing prosecutorial power to influence other voters. If Democrat prosecutors in Atlanta or New York City have any accusations to make against Trump, they should present their case directly to the American people only in a way any other citizen can. The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects Senators and Representatives against being harassed for their statements in Congress. But that safeguard does not apply to the leading presidential candidate, as Trump is.
Not to be outdone by his counterpart in Atlanta, another Democrat prosecutor in New York City is threatening to indict Trump over a payment made by his former lawyer more than six years ago. That is far beyond any reasonable statute of limitations, and this is yet another political ambush to disrupt Trump’s reelection campaign. Other states should refuse to recognize these politicized prosecutions, as courts in both Texas and Illinois have already done by rejecting subpoenas from the Georgia grand jury. State legislatures should direct their courts not to honor intermeddling with a presidential race by mere county prosecutors.
The Georgia legislature itself should end the shenanigans that will cause havoc nationwide. That legislature should exclude leading presidential candidates from the authority of prosecutors in its state during presidential campaigns. Should the Georgia legislature refuse to uphold the sanctity of our electoral process, it is up to the voters to hold them accountable. We must passionately and loudly let our elected officials know that we will not allow mere county prosecutors to hold a presidential election hostage. Targeting political opponents for prosecution is what you’d expect to see in some third-world regime, and any state or county that would allow it ought to be ashamed.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/liberalism-and-conservatism/big-government/county-prosecutors-hold-up-presidential-election/
Phyllis Schlafly