The U.S. justice system is a national embarrassment.
That actually understates the problem. A justice system that was an example to the world, one that pursued and prosecuted scandals without fear or favor, is now itself perhaps the greatest of all scandals in the United States.
This was never clearer than today, Thursday, as Americans awoke to news that in the United Kingdom, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince and favored son of Queen Elizabeth, was arrested for his apparent involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. At the same time, headlines spoke of a former Korean president getting a life sentence for leading an insurrection akin to that led by President Trump on and around January 6, 2001.
Trump, of course, the most central figure in the Epstein scandal other than Epstein himself, and the primary inciter behind the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, sits ensconced and apparently above the law at the White House.
Rather than investigating or prosecuting him for those crimes or the myriad others of which he has been credibly accused—from stealing national secrets, to attempting to defraud voters and meddle with the results of the 2020 election—our Justice Department is actually serving as personal lawyers helping with Trump’s defense and directing its efforts to attacking, without grounds, his enemies and rivals. Furthermore, another arm of Trump law enforcement, is now summarily executing Americans in the street, throwing innocent people in jail, denying them thousands due process, incarcerating children and innocents in concentration camps (again often without due process) and serially violating the rights of Americans.
That is to say nothing of the efforts afoot by Trump, DoJ, and even the Trump intelligence community to conspire to deny Americans of their right to vote or the serial, egregious corruption at the center of the Trump Administration, corruption that has siphoned billions into the personal accounts of the president, his family and his close aids.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, we see a far different picture. Not only was Andrew whisked off to a police cell, with a statement of support for the investigation by his brother the King, but multiple former members of the Starmer government are under investigation for their Epstein ties. That is also true in Norway where an ambassador has had to resign and other officials are feeling the heat. Further, across the private sector from the Middle East to U.S. corporate suites, individuals with ties to the sordid Epstein saga are losing their jobs or under intense pressure to leave them.
Have Epstein’s victims received their share of justice or even the day in court they deserve? No. Have Trump associates who have lied about their ties to Epstein, like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick felt pressure? No. Has former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr whose name has come up in the released Epstein files been called to testify? No. Has troubling evidence that is emerging surrounding the circumstances of Epstein’s death received further investigation? No.
Indeed, those files concerning Epstein that have been released—although heavily redacted—have raised new questions about Trump (who is accused in some sworn testimony of rape and threatening to kill young girls), about Epstein and his ties to foreign governments, and about why with so much evidence in circulation, many of the cases that could be brought were not and indeed, were not even investigated.
Nonetheless, the Department of Justice seems to be involved in a massive cover up, with the assistance of parts of the U.S. Congress and the White House. They not only did not comply with the law passed to require the release of the Epstein files in a timely manner, they have to date only released about half the known files and those were, as noted above, extensively blacked out. Meanwhile, Congress’ investigation into Epstein has been turned into a sham by Republicans. This week, when Epstein associate Les Wexner was deposed, no Republican members attended the deposition. While great pressure is being placed on Bill and Hillary Clinton to testify—which they have agreed to do—there is no such pressure concerning Trump.
The bad news for those involved in the Trump-Epstein cover up is that the world has different standards. Should Andrew or others go to trial, what could be revealed might be very damaging to Trump. Furthermore, despite Trump’s weak claim a couple of days ago on Air Force One that the Epstein case is over and that he has been exonerated, the growing scandal and possible prosecutions that could occur elsewhere ensure that it will be front and center for a long time to come—through the 2026 elections. That’s bad news not only for Trump but for members of the Republican Party who have aided in trying to burying the Epstein scandal.
The Yoon case in Korea raises other deeply disturbing questions for Americans who once had faith in their system of justice. A president is apparently not above the law in the Republic of Korea. Insurrections led by presidents are seen as the most grave sort of crime. Yoon could die in prison. And what’s more, we have seen months ago, a similar result in Brazil for another similar case, this one involving a close Trump friend, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, now serving a 27-year sentence for his own failed insurrection.
Here in the US, not only has Trump walked despite his involvement in an unprecedented assault by a sitting president on the U.S. government, he pardoned all the insurrectionists and some of them are now actually working in the Trump government. Indeed, some are now part of the roving bands of masked thugs, the American gestapo, fielded by Trump’s lawless Department of Homeland Security, an agency that has not only violated the rights of countless thousands but one that has regularly failed to comply with court orders to act within the law.
There is some comfort that many of Trump’s efforts to use the Department of Justice to prosecute his opponents—from James Comey to Letitia James to the six members of Congress who committed the unspeakable “crime” of urging service members to adhere to their oaths of office and the law—have been quashed in the courts. But there is absolutely no sense that such cases will not be brought again in the future, costing the targets immensely in terms of reputation and money, regardless of their final outcomes.
This disaster for America, this blight on our reputation, this failure of our institutions, this danger to our society, has many authors. Trump, of course, tops the list. His top aides from Attorney General Pam Bondi to Stephen Miller to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to Tom Homan are all involved in what has to be seen as an assault on our system that, while an extension of what happened on January 6, 2021 is even graver. Members of Congress including the Speaker of the House are actively involved. The manifold prosecutors who failed to act on the Epstein evidence and helped insure the impunity of the billionaires and other elites involved are also at fault. And of course, profound blame goes to America’s worst chief justice, John Roberts, who with his right wing colleagues have placed Trump and all future presidents above the law.
On the pediment of the U.S. Supreme Court it reads “Equal Justice Under Law.” That may be true in some parts of the world. Here in America, we know that’s a lie.
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