{"id":26099,"date":"2023-04-22T13:24:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T20:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26099"},"modified":"2023-04-22T13:24:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T20:24:09","slug":"even-if-trump-goes-down-democracy-is-still-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/22\/even-if-trump-goes-down-democracy-is-still-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"EVEN IF TRUMP GOES DOWN, DEMOCRACY IS STILL AT RISK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WED, 4\/19\/2023 – BY\u00a0CARL GIBSON<\/a> (Occupy.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tuesday, April 4 was cathartic for many Americans who had the impression that former President Donald Trump would never face any accountability for his actions due to his power and status. The New York District Attorney’s 34-count indictment \u2013 all class E felonies<\/a> for falsification of business records \u2013 marks the first time a former US president has ever been charged with a crime, and he faces a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison if found guilty on all counts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chance of Trump doing that much prison time from this case is, of course, highly unlikely, but regardless, at 76 years of age, Donald Trump may very well spend the rest of his life in a prison cell given the three other ongoing criminal investigations against him. Georgia is investigating him for allegedly trying to rig the 2020 election following a phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia\u2019s top elections official to \u201cfind 11,780 votes<\/a>\u201d in order to give him Georgia\u2019s haul of electoral college votes. No indictment has yet been unveiled as of this writing, but it\u2019s believed the Georgia investigation is coming to its conclusion this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still more consequential are the two Washington, DC grand juries, which are investigating him for both allegedly mishandling classified documents pertaining to national security<\/a>, and for his role in instigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is presumed to be weighing his own campaign for the presidency in 2024, has been compelled by a federal judge<\/a> to testify against Trump in that investigation. If those cases also result in indictments, that will mean Trump \u2013 who is currently the 2024 frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination \u2013 will be in and out of courts in three separate jurisdictions during the peak of the presidential primary season early next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s tempting for those wishing for criminal accountability to celebrate, multiple serious threats to democracy will continue to persist even if Donald Trump goes to prison for the rest of his life, and those who seek to protect democracy must remain vigilant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAR-RIGHT REPUBLICAN FRINGE FIGURES NOW GOING MAINSTREAM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Across the United States, there are signs the Republican Party is only doubling down on the extremism that produced Donald Trump, with new far-right political figures eager to step up and be the new standard-bearer of the GOP. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) was recently given a national platform on 60 Minutes to introduce her odious brand of far-right extremism to a mainstream audience with little pushback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene \u2013 a QAnon believer<\/a> who was stripped of her committee assignments<\/a> in 2021 after trafficking in racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories \u2013 told Semafor she expected the interview to be a \u201chit job,\u201d but remarked after its airing that she thought \u201cit was pretty good.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one notable exchange, 60 Minutes\u2019 Leslie Stahl asked Greene about her claim that the Democratic Party is full of pedophiles and child groomers, prompting Greene to restate the claim with emphasis. Stahl\u2019s only response was to make a surprised face and utter \u201cwow\u201d while Greene smirked. Stahl failed to counter that the Republican Party has an overwhelmingly worse record<\/a> concerning pedophiles and sexual predators within its ranks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n