Trump, A Convicted Felon, Becomes US President

Empowering Weak & Oppressed

Tahir Mustafa

Sha'ban 02, 1446 2025-02-01

News & Analysis

by Tahir Mustafa (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 54, No. 12, Sha'ban, 1446)

Image Source - AI-ChatGPT

Donald Trump is not only a narcissist but also a convicted felon. Add to that his obnoxious nature, and one gets a better sense of his character. And he made history by becoming the first person to be sworn in as president of the United States despite being convicted by a court for his crimes in the New York “hush money” case. The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, however, released him on January 10 with no restrictions.

Trump had tried desperately hard to delay the sentencing before his January 20 inauguration but to no avail. Before the judge announced the verdict, Trump complained that he has been “treated very, very unfairly”. Really? Any other person committing the same crime would be put behind bars for a long time; not Trump.

His conviction means that he cannot own a gun; nor can he serve as a security guard. He would not be hired as cashier in a bank but he can become the president of the United States. That speaks volumes for the American political and judicial system. Most non-Americans are unable to wrap their heads around the brazenly selective justice practised in the US.

What exactly was the “hush-money” case? It stemmed from a plot to cover up hush-money paid to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, as the 2016 election date approached. Trump and his team feared, quite rightly, that if this information leaked out so close to the election date, it would become a scandal.

For her silence not to reveal Trump’s affair with her, Daniels was paid $130,000 through Trump’s then-attorney, Michael Cohen. This was meant to obscure the money trail.

Prosecutors argued that the payment amounted to election interference. The purpose was to keep vital information from voters. Thus, it essentially broke the law.

Like his former boss, Cohen was also involved in numerous criminal activities. Prosecutors offered him a plea bargain: admit to Trump’s hush-money payment in return for relief from charges against him.

Trump was not only ‘elected’ (selected/auctioned) in 2016 but also ‘re-elected’ (re-selected/re-auctioned) in 2024. Miriam Adelson, the widow of gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson, paid $100 million to Trump campaign. Elon Musk gave even more: $277 million. For the richest man in the US, this is peanuts but he could himself a seat at the Trump table.

Back to Trump’s illicit sex affairs. Eight years ago, the voters did not know Trump’s tryst with a prostitute. In 2024, they were fully aware because the sordid details were revealed in court, yet they still ‘elected’ Trump.

This indicates that most Americans did not think there was anything wrong with Trump having an affair with a prostitute. They would do the same thing if they had the chance.

Frauds, rapists and other assorted criminals can occupy the highest office in the US. Most Americans do not seem to mind. The only rider they would perhaps add is, do not get caught. Trump got caught but the corrupt judicial system, while convicting him, did not sentence him to jail.

Lest anybody gets the impression that the octogenarian Joe Biden who just left the White House was a modicum of honesty and integrity, consider this. He pardoned his own son, Hunter, who was convicted on gun and tax fraud charges. Leading to the December 2024 pardon, Biden had on numerous occasions stated he would not do so.

Yet he issued the unconditional pardon to his son, sparing him from a potential prison sentence. Biden did more; he also shielded Hunter from future prosecution by the Trump regime. The US (in)justice system only convicts poor people, mostly African Americans for petty crimes. In some instances, even innocent people are sent to prison because of false testimony by witnesses or the racist police force falsify records.

Biden Junior was also involved in financial fraud in Ukraine. This might explain why the US is so keen on keeping the war going there. End to the war in Ukraine would revive calls for investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial irregularities.

Justice Merchan referred to the circumstances surrounding the president-elect’s sentencing telling him “because of the office you once occupied and will soon occupy again.” Merchan said that it was the legal protections afforded to the office of the president that were extraordinary, “not the occupant of the office.”

Those legal protections were a factor that overrode all others, Merchan said, but they were not a mitigating factor. He said they did not reduce the seriousness of the crimes or erase the jury’s verdict.

What message does the judge’s words send to Americans? Is it not obvious that American presidents can commit any crime and there will be no consequences.

This is what Trump did on January 3, 2020 when he ordered the assassination of General Qassem Sulaimani of Iran as he arrived at Baghdad’s International Airport. Trump committed several crimes. He violated the sovereignty of Iraq; he assassinated a senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as well as his host Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. General Sulaimani was on a diplomatic mission to deliver the Iranian leadership’s response to Saudi rulers via Iraq.

There are important lessons in the Trump and Biden sagas. Any system that allows the rich and powerful to go free for crimes while ordinary people are thrown behind bars is heading for destruction. Add to that the massive corruption in the police force as well as the policy of shoot first and ask questions later, if at all, are sure signs of America’s terminal decline.

The world would heave a collective sigh of relief if the US criminal conduct worldwide were brought to an end.

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