He Didn't Go to Jail -- And That May Have Broken America - Andrew Weissmann - America at a Crossroads

[Rhiannon12866]

What happens when the most powerful people in America aren’t held accountable? In this compelling interview, a former federal prosecutor breaks down why Donald Trump never faced trial — and why that decision may have shaken the foundations of American democracy. - 05/17/2025.

[Picaro]

1. Haven't watched this yet, but I fully intend to

Going to key off the headline. I don’t think there is any question that the system has been broken. But it wasn’t Trump so much as the very foundation of the legal system that broke America. It was the Supreme Court with one decision after another that had no basis in the Constitution. They just made it up when it suited them—over and over again. The final judicial coup was the immunity decision—completely ignoring that the Constitution grants immunity to no one given criminal behavior.

If the law and the judiciary were at all functional Trump would have been arrested and jailed for fomenting an insurrection once he left office. America has been utterly squeamish about enforcing the law against previous executive office holders in a way that no other constitutional republics around the world have been. Peru, South Korea, France, Brazilian—have all prosecuted and jailed former chief executives.

But not the U.S.. Largely because of some truly stupid DOJ policies that were initially put in place to protect Nixon from prison. Gerald Ford’s ill considered pardon stuck a knife in the heart of our legal system. The DOJ policy that Presidents are too important and busy to face criminal prosecution while in office led to it being almost unthinkable and practically impossible to arrest and prosecute a former president. This policy was, again, a blatant protection policy for Nixon, but it also served to protect Bush Jr. when he should have been charged and prosecuted after his terms in office.

Andrew Weissman was a part of that dysfunction.

[Hekate]

2. KnR

[Godot51]

3. The Nixon "Pardon".

When Gerald Ford, the un-elected, appointed by Nixon, president, pardoned Richard Nixon he was pretending to "end the nightmare" for America. This set the stage for our current, shameful, criminal president's reign.

Of course all Ford did was end the nightmare of impeachment, open testimony, and possible imprisonment for Nixon. Nixon went on to live a long life, become a writer, and become somewhat rehabilitated.

The republican party became the party of the very rich, powerful, and influential and gave up caring about the American people. They learned the lesson well that there would be no consequence for their actions.

When Bill Clinton was impeached for sexual dallying after a long, drawn-out investigation that wasted millions of dollars, and took up much of the valuable time congress needed to actually govern America, it was basically a revenge for the Watergate hearings.Newt Gingrich, another useless leader, was determined to punish the Democrats.

Watergate was an actual criminal investigation whereas the Clinton Whitewater scam was a made up financial investigation that went nowhere and devolved into a private, albeit serious, sexual scandal. I cannot forgive Clinton his indiscretion but sex is not a crime, as is burglary.

We're now being basically destroyed, threatened, and punished due to the acts of Ford, a weak, useless, and partisan man from over 50 years ago.

[FakeNoose]

4. Absolutely - the first breakage happened with Nixon

I'll never believe that Gerald Ford had the idea to 'pardon" Nixon. I'm certain it was all behind the scenes bullying and arm-twisting that got Nixon out of the White House just in time before he was impeached.

What we do know is that if Nixon HAD been impeached he would have been convicted and banished from the Presidency. No such thing occurred during Chump's 2 impeachments, he was protected by Mitch McConnell both times. The Repukes have completely destroyed our country in our lifetime.