Professor: Trump case will have implications for American democracy

Aug. 3—The strength of the prosecution's case against former President Donald Trump on four felony counts of trying to overturn the 2020 election will be debated for days and months ahead.

Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Scott Meinke, Bucknell University professor of political science, said this case could have major implications for American democracy.

"This indictment is far more significant than the other two Trump currently faces because it goes to the core question of abusing power to distort democratic outcomes," he said.

The indictments represent the most serious effort at accountability for Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Meinke said.

There was little debate among the Valley's Congressmen, U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-15, and Dan Meuser, R-9.

Thompson had a six-word response: "I wouldn't bet against Donald Trump."

Meuser said he was surprised but not surprised by the events.

"I never thought this would happen in the United States," U.S. Rep. Meuser, R-9, said on Thursday. "When Trump goes up in the polls, another frivolous indictment is announced. When damning information emerges in the Biden family scandal and the evidence mounts, Trump gets indicted."

The timeline says it all, Meuser said.

"Every time Biden needs a distraction in the news cycle, a new Trump indictment follows," Meuser said. "This is weaponization of the DOJ (Department of Justice) against President Biden's leading political opponent, particularly when no crime is defined. When you have a double standard in justice, you have no justice at all."

The broader political impact of the indictment, said Robert Speel, of Penn State University, Behrend College, is that those who already didn't like Trump will be reinforced in their beliefs; while millions of other Americans will continue to argue that the charges were politically motivated.

Meinke said the indictment "essentially guarantees" the 2024 presidential race will center on arguments about this prosecution if Trump gets the Republican nomination.

Nick Clark, of Susquehanna University, believes most of the case is going to revolve around the question of whether Trump knew he had lost the election.

"If you presume he thought he had won, then his lawyers can argue he was trying to uphold the law and save democracy," Clark said. "I don't know how you demonstrate that. I believe he was told he lost by people that worked for him, but I think he has genuinely believed the election was stolen from him, at least at points."

Clark said Rudy Giuliani's free speech argument is a distraction.

"I don't believe the charges were based on some of the actions that were taken, such as assembling false electors, pressuring the vice president to not certify the results, and potentially other things we do not even know about yet," Clark said. "That is really where the president and his co-conspirators need to worry."

Meinke said, "the indictment ties together a wide range of Trump's actions to show a criminal conspiracy of fraudulent obstruction of the 2020 election processes."

The challenge for the special counsel in the case will be to prove Trump knew his actions were based on false claims, he said.

"The indictment begins to highlight evidence of that knowledge, but the trial will depend on how the prosecution can further support that element of the case," Meinke said.