Free and Fair Elections and Trump: The "Hush Money" Trial
Free and Fair Elections and Trump: The "Hush Money" Trial
Trump's New York trial is an important case for democracy
As Former President Trump’s first criminal trial gets underway later this month in New York, tune into reporters and analysts who cover the trial as an “election interference” case rather than a “hush money” or “business fraud” case.
The 2016 election was a while ago, so let’s review how bonkers (technical legal term) things were that October:
October 7 at 4:00pm: the infamous Access Hollywood tape leaks.
October 7 at 4:30pm: WikiLeaks posts the private emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta. WikiLeaks posts more Podesta emails everyday in October.
October 9: Clinton and Trump have their second debate.
October 19: The final debate takes place. It’s the third most-watched presidential debate ever.
October 28: James Comey notifies Congress that the FBI is re-examining Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
In the midst of this chaos, Trump allegedly paid to bury allegations that he had a sexual encounter with an adult film star while he was married. Prosecutors say he made the payment to hide information from voters and help his chances of being elected.
Looking back, the timing is remarkable, and the effect of the hush money payment is immeasurable. Trump reached a deal for the payment on October 10th, just three days after the Access Hollywood tape and the day after the second debate. He wired the money on October 27th, the day before Comey’s letter to Congress.
We’ll never know how the 71.6 million people who watched the final debate might have reacted if Trump had been forced to answer questions about his affair in the same way Clinton had to respond to Trump’s repeated attacks that night about her emails.
We’ll never know how the media coverage might have differed in the final days of the campaign if there had been two major stories—Trump’s affair and the FBI investigation—rather than the news being entirely about Clinton’s emails.
The assault on democracy is more than just attacks on voting rights. It’s book bans, the decline of media literacy and the local press, and more. Perhaps above all, it includes election interference—attempts to lie, mislead, and gaslight voters so they don’t have complete and accurate information about candidates and elections—when carried out by the very people asking for our votes.
Don’t let anyone tell you the charges in Trump’s New York trial aren’t important. Allegations that a candidate for the Oval Office payed money to hide damaging information from voters on the eve of the election, and then further lied to cover up those payments, strike at the heart of what it means to have a fully-functioning democracy.
Democracy is at risk from all angles. Visit our Resources page for ways you can get involved, and share this post to enlist others in the cause.