Thursday's indictment of the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg for fraud and tax crimes (they have both pleaded not guilty) is "not nothing," Quinta Jurecic, a senior editor at Lawfare and Brookings Institution fellow, writes for The Atlantic. But, she adds, it does feel "strangely unsatisfactory," akin to the infamous Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone getting charged "with, well, tax evasion," rather than more extreme crimes.
"It does the job legally, but seems, in a profound way, to miss the point," Jurecic writes. "There's something absurd about the fact that after years of baroque wrondgoing by [former President Donald] Trump, some possibly criminal and some not — flouting campaign finance laws, obstructing justice during the Mueller investigation, blackmailing the president of Ukraine, egging on an insurrection, and that's only from 2016 onward — the first criminal charge related to [Trump] or his business speaks to none of these acts, and doesn't even name Trump himself as a defendant." Read more of Jurecic's thoughts on the indictment at The Atlantic.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Can Trump get a fair trial?Talking Points Donald Trump says he can't get a fair trial in heavily Democratic Manhattan as his hush money case starts
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homesSpeed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bidSpeed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
-
What RFK Jr.'s running mate pick says about his candidacyTalking Points Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s' running mate brings money and pro-abortion-rights cred to his longshot presidential bid
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detenteSpeed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe feesSpeed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billionSpeed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
