TRUMP CONTINUES TO SPEW “FAKE NEWS”

….Shoe Bomber, Richard Reed’s shoes

 

Contrary to our President, the US legal system is not “a joke” and “a laughingstock.”

 

After the recent arrest of Sayfullo Saipov, who is accused of killing eight people in Manhattan with a Home Depot rental truck, and this event was apparently all in support of ISIS, President Trump once again embarrassed all Americans calling the  US legal system “a joke” and “a laughingstock.”

 

His Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, later stated that the president “was voicing his frustration with the lengthy process that often comes with a case like this.”

 

As usual, the president, and his Press Secretary were both spouting pure B.S..

 

Trump continued to vomit his ridiculous statements such as: “We also have to come up with punishment that’s far quicker and far greater than the punishment these animals are getting right now. They’ll go through court for years. And, at the end, they’ll be — who knows what happens. We need quick justice and we need strong justice….much quicker and much stronger than we have right now.”

 

This is the kind of garbage language that you would expect from a stern authoritarian dictator as he would go directly after his political opponents.  (You know, just as Trump continues to go after Hillary Clinton.)

 

Trump continues to show his lack of understanding about how this nation works as he continues to think that because he’s the president, the Justice Department is supposed to be following his directions.  He still doesn’t understand that the US Justice department belongs to the rule of law and the American public, not to the US president.

 

First, to ensure that everyone receives due process, it is ridiculous to think that it’s OK to rush the conviction of anyone accused of breaking the law.  Trump doesn’t seem to understand that just because you are accused of breaking the law, that doesn’t mean you are guilty of breaking the law.

 

The way that Robert Mueller’s Russian investigation is going, Trump may end up being very happy that the US law works as it does.  Trump himself may need all that extra time for defending his own problems as Mr. Mueller continues to uncover issues of Trump’s connections to the Russians, or for Trump’s continuing obstruction of justice.

 

As to the quick justice that Trump is calling for, just look at some 23 of the terrorist militants that have been brought to the US courts and that have been processed as they were given the opportunity to have a fair trial.

You will see that in most cases, the process took less than two years, or even a single year. The longest case took 35 months, and one case, the failed Times Square Bomber, was completed in just seven weeks. The average duration between indictment and conviction of the 23 cases is 15.7 months.

 

Many militants ended up pleading guilty, which attests to the strength of the government’s case. Except in a handful of indictments, it’s difficult to see much evidence for Trump’s claim that terrorists “go through court for years.”  Only seven of the 23 cases took 24 months or more between extradition or indictment and conviction.  That is also apparent from reviewing the 600 cases in the DOJ documents.

 

The White House was asked for a comment on this, but of course, Trump’s administration seldom responds to any media requests.

 

As stated, the numbers here suggest that “a need for much quicker and much stronger justice” is a matter of a distorted opinion. My readers can judge that for themselves.

 

·       Richard Reid (shoe bomber): arrested December 2001, pleaded guilty October 2002. (10 months)

·       Wesam al-Delaema (conspired with Iraqi insurgents to target American troops: Extradited January 2007, pleaded guilty February 2009 (25 months)

·       Aafia Siddiqui Extradited August 2008, convicted February 2010. (18 months)

·       Faisal Shahzad  Arrested May 2010, pleaded guilty June 2010. (seven weeks)

·       Abdel Nur  Extradited June 2008, pleaded guilty June 2010. (24 months)

·       Abdul Kadir Extradited June 2008, convicted July 2010. (25 months)

·       Kareem Ibrahim  Extradited June 2008, convicted May 2011. (35 months)

·       Ahmed Ghailani (al-Qaeda operative in 1998 bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania): Originally in Guantanamo Bay facility,  (12 months)

·       Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab : arrested December 2009, pleaded guilty October 2011. (22 months)

·       Wesam el-Hanafi : Arrested April 2010, pleaded guilty June 2012. (22 months)

·       Zachary Adam Chesser : Arrested July 2010, pleaded guilty October 2010. (three months)

·       Naser Jason Abdo : Charged August 2011, convicted May 2012. (nine months)

·       Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif : Charged July 2011, pleaded guilty December 2012. (five months)

·       Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame  Indicted July 2011, pleaded guilty December 2011. (five months)

·       Khalid al-Fawwaz : Extradited October 2012, convicted February 2015. (28 months)

·       Adel Abdel Bary  Extradited October 2012, pleaded guilty September 2014. (23 months)

·       Abu Hamza al-Masri  Extradited October 2012, convicted May 2014 (19 months)

·       Suleiman Abu Ghaith  captured in Jordan in March 2013, convicted March 2014. (12 months)

·       Dzhokhar Tsarnaev : arrested in April 2013, convicted in April 2015. (24 months)

·       Irek Hamidullin : Indicted October 2014, convicted December 2015. (26 months)

·       Saddiq al-Abbadi : Indicted January 2015, pleaded guilty May 2015. (four months)

·       Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh : Extradited from Pakistan in April 2015, convicted September 2017. (17 months)

·       Ahmad Khan Rahimi : Arrested Sept. 2016, convicted Oct. 2017. (13 months)

 

Once again, I rest my case.

 

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