Press: With one indictment, we took America back 

Something really big happened last week. But it’s not what you think. It’s not the fact that Donald Trump made history again, becoming not just the first president to be impeached twice but the first former president ever indicted on criminal charges. It’s even bigger than that, and it’s the direct result of Trump’s indictment. 

In one fell swoop, no sooner had Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reportedly filed over 30 charges against Trump for allegedly making hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels than the faith of all Americans was restored in one of the most basic tenets of our democracy. Suddenly we could stand up and shout it in Trump-like all-caps: “NO PERSON IS ABOVE THE LAW.” And, more importantly, we could believe in it again. 

That fundamental principle — so simple, yet so profound — was drilled into us from an early age. It’s part of our national DNA. It makes us special. It’s what sets us apart from many other countries. Together, with follow-up principles that “Every person is innocent until proven guilty” and “Every person charged with a crime has a right to defend themselves in front of a jury of their peers,” it’s one of three pillars of the American system of justice. It’s as American as baseball, George Washington and the Fourth of July. 

But, sadly, the principle that no person is above the law has been under attack lately by some Republicans who know better, Republicans who conveniently shred the Constitution by maintaining that the law should apply equally to all Americans — except Donald Trump. They echo claims first made by Trump during the Robert Mueller investigation that any attempt to hold him responsible for his actions is a “political witch hunt” and that any district attorney, judge or federal officer who attempts to do so is “weaponizing” the justice system to attack a political opponent. 

Of course, Trump himself went even further, declaring in all-caps on Truth Social: “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN” — an over-the-top complaint shamelessly echoed by many other leading Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called Trump’s indictment “un-American.”  

In a Manhattan courthouse later today, Trump will be fingerprinted and his mug shot will be taken, like any other defendant (except for the presence of Secret Service agents). It’s a good time to put this event, no matter how historic, in perspective and abandon the red-hot political perspective. 

First, we shouldn’t have to say it, but — the indictment of Donald Trump is not an “attack on our country,” for one simple reason: Trump is not our country. He’s simply a man who was once president of our country.  

Second — a fact that Trump’s rabid supporters conveniently ignore — is that prosecutors are not investigating Trump because he happens to be a former Republican president and GOP frontrunner for 2024, but because there’s reason to believe he may have broken the law. Were there no evidence, there would be no investigations in New York, Georgia or by the Justice Department.  

Third, while Trump may have been protected from being charged with a crime while in the White House, he no longer enjoys that protection. Legally, he’s again just one of us. Back to the land of “No person is above the law.”  

The fact that Trump could be, and was, indicted is not political. It’s not partisan. It’s all-American. It’s what America’s all about. For years, Donald Trump’s been telling us,  “Take back America!” Last week, we did. 

Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”