Trump’s Georgia Election Meddling Didn’t Just Look Wrong. It Was Wrong.

The ex-president’s new indictment isn’t about appearances. Some things are just as evil as they seem.

The Georgia grand jury’s decision to indict former president Donald Trump on Monday night was surprising only for its speed.

Grand juries are famously—or infamously, if you prefer—willing to indict. That’s because they’re presented with only the prosecutor’s case (there is no defense at a grand jury hearing) and not required to reach a unanimous decision (here, 12 of 23 jurors had to agree) or to settle the actual question of guilt (all the grand jury must determine is if there’s enough evidence to bring charges). Fulton County district attorney Fani T. Willis may not manage to convict Trump and the 18 lawyers and other allies charged along with him. But the Georgia indictment has long since struck me as a sure thing.

I can’t say the same of Trump’s three other indictments: the arcane tax and campaign finance case in New York, the federal documents retention case, and the federal case concerning Trump’s behavior in the run-up to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. All three have some moral or legal ambiguity (though it’s important to note the federal January 6 case has some overlap with the Georgia indictment). Reasonable Christians might disagree over whether these prosecutions are politically motivated, punishing behaviors that may look bad but aren’t, in fact, illegal or wrong.

In the case of the Georgia indictment, though, I don’t see the same ambiguity—at least where Trump himself is concerned.

To borrow a phrase from an often misunderstood and misquoted Bible verse, I see a clear “appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22, KJV). Legally, we don’t know yet if he’s guilty. But from what …

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Title: Trump’s Georgia Election Meddling Didn’t Just Look Wrong. It Was Wrong.
URL: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/august-web-only/trump-georgia-indictment-election-meddling-phone-call-legal.html
Source: Christianity Today Magazine
Source URL: http://ChristianityToday.com/
Date: August 15, 2023 at 11:05PM
Feedly Board(s): Religion