WorldNetDaily greeted Donald Trump's fourth indictment with lots of whining that the former president is being persecuted -- as well as the falsehood that he was being indicted for making phone calls.
By Terry Krepel Posted 12/19/2023
Following the pattern after his firstthreeindictments, WorldNetDaily was in full defense-and-victimhood mode when Donald Trump's fourth indictment was handed down. It lazily reprinted another outlet's news story on the indictment itself -- surprisingly, from hated "liberal media" org NBC News. Then the usual WND nuttery kicked in; Bob Unruh wrote in a Aug. 15 article:
A partisan Georgia prosecutor has unleashed an encyclopedia of charges against President Donald Trump and more than a dozen others who raised concerns about the 2020 election results.
Fani Willis, in fact, "threw a bunch of stuff at the wall trying to get something, anything to stick," according to a Twitchy commentary on Tuesday.
And the fact that she was reaching, far, for something to make a crime was evident in her results.
On social media, it was explained that she now is making illegal:
Asking people for phone numbers
Reserving rooms in a Capitol building
Telling people to watch TV
Holding meetings
Calling people
Setting up phone calls
And much, much more.
[...]
Explained the commentary: "Asking for phone numbers? Reserving rooms in a Capitol building? TELLING PEOPLE TO WATCH TV. Bro, we're all getting charged at this rate."
Unruh is lying. The indictment does not claim that making phone calls is illegal; rather, it listed those calls and other activities as part of the "overt acts" that formed the conspiracy that Trump was charged with. Nevertheless, Unruh repeated his lie in an Aug. 18 article that peddled a different conspiracy theory:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has released a bombshell about the latest indictment, from the state of Georgia, of President Donald Trump.
That indictment, which critics have charged makes it illegal to make a phone call or hold a meeting, claims that Trump and more than a dozen others engaged in illegal actions to contest the 2020 election results.
Now, a report at PJMedia explains that Gingrich confirmed a "reliable source" told him orders came from Washington, D.C. for Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis, to bring charges against Trump.
The explanation, the report said, was that "they" needed a distraction "from the 'screw-up' involving David Weiss," who recently was appointed special counsel to continue the government's years-long investigation of Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges.
Gingrich is simply repeating gossip that he can't back up -- even he admits it's nothing but "hearsay" -- but Unruh won't tell you that.
Unruh touted partisan attacks on Willis in an Aug. 24 article:
Members of the Republican Party in Congress have notified Fani Willis, the leftist Georgia prosecutor who unleashed a multiple-count indictment against nearly 20 people who allegedly conspired with President Trump during the 2020 election by making "phone calls" and such that they want answers about her agenda.
The Federalist has reported it is GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee who wrote to Willis demanding answers.
"Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated," the letter warns.
WND offloaded news about Trump's arraignment to another outside article. Meanwhile, Unruh regurgitated another attack on Willis the next day:
The DA in Georgia prosecuting President Donald Trump for his election doubts, and his statements about those, has been revealed as having her own doubts about elections, and making public statements about those.
Trump was booked Thursday on counts in an indictment created by Fani Willis, who is a hard-left activist who is fundraising on her agenda against Trump.
It's one of four indictments pending against Trump, and has been described as possibly the most political of the four, as it appears to make criminal the act of making a phone call or having a meeting.
After the process, Trump tweeted his booking photo and the statement, "Never Surrender."
[...]
Now a report at the Post-Millennial has documented Willis' own agenda to undermine trust in elections.
The report explained it was Benny Johnson, who broke news on X that Willis, "is heavily partisan."
The report explained, "Johnson shared a post from Willis' Facebook page in which she was 'feeling annoyed' on November 4, 2020, election day. 'Georgia could determine who is our next president,' she wrote, 'A TEAM of lawyers needs to watch them count every single VOTE. They can start in Fulton where we are having water leaks. What ballots are they throwing out? Georgia lets (sic) give an honest accounting. No stunts!"
Unruh did not mention that Willis did not incite an insurrection over losing an election and that she has apparently accepted investigations into the Georgia vote that found no anomalies.
Unruh went on to repeat more right-wing attacks on Willis and the indictment:
Of course, Unruh is just doing stenography here -- there's no actual reporting involved. Rewriting others' content is not the same as generating your own, so it's unclear what value there is in WND doing it, aside from it being cheaper for the cash-strapped "news" organization to do.
Columnists on defense
WND columnists made sure to offer the same defense of Trump that the "news" side did. Andy Schlafly complained in his Aug. 15 column:
Monday night in Georgia, Democrats launched yet another political prosecution of Trump. Tacked onto this indictment by the Democrat-controlled county were 18 other Republicans as defendants, illustrating how this is about politics rather than law.
Democratic allies of President Joe Biden have piled up a string of 91 bogus felony charges against their Republican opponent, Donald Trump. That's in addition to dozens of similarly contrived charges against lawyers, colleagues and supporters of the leading Republican candidate.
This unprecedented abuse of the legal system for political ends, a process known as lawfare, presents an existential crisis for "democracy in America," to quote the title of Alexis de Tocqueville's famous book. Previous generations of Americans met their challenges with our Constitution mostly intact, but this abuse of prosecutorial power threatens our Republic.
Democrats like to recite the mantra that "no person is above the law," but the Supreme Court has long held that the president is effectively immune from oppressive legal harassment during his term of office. Prosecutions can be so demanding and distracting that no president should be expected to discharge the duties of that high office while under the thumb of a judge.
The leading candidate for president has been ensnared in a judicial process controlled by his political enemies. This unprecedented crisis requires extending the well-established immunity of the president to candidates for that office, such that the American people remain free to select our next president in a free and fair election.
Schlafly then complained that a judge in a previous indictment instituted a limited gag order on Trump over his threats to and attacks on said judge and other court officials:
The liberal goal of gagging Trump overlooks that the American people have their own First Amendment right to hear what Trump has to say. He's the front-runner for president, and there is no free speech right more important than that of voters to hear the views of our future president.
Trump does not have a right to attack and intimidate people, and he is not above the law -- something Schlafly doesn't seem to understand.
Wayne Allyn Root huffed in his Aug. 18 column that the indictment was somehow proof that the 2020 election was stolen:
Folks, now you know it. I know it. Everyone with a brain knows it. Even Democrats (deep down) know it. The 2020 election was stolen. The debate is over.
How do I know? Because both the feds and Georgia just indicted our former President Donald Trump for talking about, questioning and trying to investigate a stolen election. When the communist thugs, bullies and tyrants make it a crime to question a stolen election, in a country built around free speech, it's 100% proof they stole the election.
[...]
The bans accomplished nothing. The noise would not go away. Polls showed a huge majority of Americans believe the 2020 election was rigged.
The communist thugs started to panic. They couldn't let Trump run for president and keep talking about a stolen election. Worse, what if he won and opened an investigation? Democrats would go to prison for life. Or worse. This was treason.
They had to act – to end this talk once and for all. To set an example. To make sure no one ever dared question any stolen election ever again – because of course, they plan on rigging and stealing 2024.
[...]
So now they've taken it a step further. Now they've indicted and arrested Trump (and other Republicans) for free speech, for talking about a stolen election, for asking questions, for trying to investigate ... in America.
Trump faces hundreds of years in prison for free speech.
So, now the mystery is gone. Now you know. When it becomes a crime to talk about a rigged and stolen election, when Democrats are so desperate that one indictment is not enough, so they indict Trump again and again and again and again ...
That's the final proof the election was stolen.
That's also the final proof this is a communist takeover of America. These are the hallmarks of communist and Nazi thugs and tyrants throughout history: steal elections, weaponize government, censor and ban dissent, arrest your political opponents.
Folks, we are there.
Michael Master devoted his Aug. 18 column to explaining why he will vote for Trump no matter what and how the guy is just like Winston Churchill:
Donald Trump has a huge ego. No humility. The media, Democrats, establishment Republicans paint him as some self-centered lunatic. A criminal lunatic. But Trump has my vote against all other candidates – and that's true for almost 60% of Republicans, according to Real Clear Politics and Morning Consultant, despite the indictments against him. If Trump wins the Republican nomination, then more than 90% of Republicans will vote for him ... again.
Trump is a true outsider. Prior to being POTUS, he never held a government position. He owes nothing to bureaucrats, most of whom think that they are the ones who really run our government. He is determined to stop those deep state bureaucrats in order to make America great again, so of course the deep state and Democrats and RINOs are determined to stop Trump – any way that they can, including using the legal system as a political weapon.
Winston Churchill also had a huge ego. No humility. He was beaten in his bid for reelection as prime minister even after guiding England against Germany. Leaders of his own party campaigned against him. Then, just a couple of years later, the people voted him back into office. Why? because voters eventually realized that he got results. Because they realized that Churchill stood up to the enemies of England rather than make deals with those enemies as Neville Chamberlain did. Churchill put England first.
Trump is much like Churchill.
Is Trump a self-centered lunatic? Maybe. But so what? As said by Billy Joel: It just could be a lunatic that you are looking for.
So Trump has my vote, even more so now because of the indictments. Make America Great Again. Put America first, especially for average working Americans. Stop the bureaucrats, stop the deep state, stop Democrats, stop those establishment Republican politicians.
Rachel Alexander spent her Aug. 21 column nitpicking the indictment and declaring that the prosecutors who brought it will be disbarred:
It is well known that RICO laws, named after the original federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, contain a lot of vague, broad provisions and "process crimes." The laws were drafted in order to ensnare the Mob, since it was difficult making other crimes fit their actions. RICO laws have been used unfairly since then to target pro-life protesters, since not much else would stick. So it was no surprise when left-wing activist prosecutor Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney in Georgia, used the state's RICO laws to charge and get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, er Donald Trump and 18 others over their concerns about election fraud in the 2020 election.
Here is exactly why the State Bar of Georgia will of course disbar the prosecutors over the frivolous, harassing indictment. I received a – ahem – leaked draft of the opinion from the bar's disciplinary judge. Although the case hasn't even been tried yet, and there hasn't been a single ruling on it from a judge, of course the bar already knows it has no merit.
Schlafly returned to fret in his Aug. 22 column about the others indicted in Georgia along with Trump:
The attempt in Georgia to ruin the lives of 19 Republican leaders with a sham indictment should not be accepted by Americans nationwide. Georgia taxpayers should not be looted by the Fulton County prosecutor with this travesty foisted on the rest of the country, and the American people should not go along with this abuse of power.
Leftists are exploiting a weakness in our political system that for too long has given nearly unlimited and unaccountable power to low-level prosecutors. A county prosecutor has no business interfering with the election for president of the United States, yet Democrats are so determined to hold onto the White House in 2024 that they are willing to go there.
Their single-minded purpose is to prevent – at all costs – the election of a Republican as president. If they succeed at blocking or even imprisoning Trump, no other candidate is likely to take on the Establishment ever again.
[...]
If Georgia will not restrain the misuse of its taxpayer dollars to infringe on First Amendment rights, other states should defend the rights of their own residents against this wrongful attempt to chill political activity in a national election. Objecting to an election as a fraud is no crime, yet that is all these indictments allege.
Schlafly returned for an Aug. 29 column that started out in a right-wing fantasy world, declaring that "In 17 months a reelected President Trump will pardon all who have been victimized by these politically motivated prosecutions, including those criminally charged in state court," adding that "It will be up to President Trump, not the courts, whom to pardon, and he has indicated that he will be generous and merciful with this power, unlike other Republicans." He went on to complain that other Republican presidential candidates haven't pledged to pardon Trump if elected:
One reason Trump is far ahead of his flailing rivals is that they refuse to pledge to pardon Trump, let alone the many other victims of these politicized prosecutions. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, himself running for reelection in Texas, chastised the unsuccessful rivals to Trump for how they refused at last week's debate to pledge to use the pardon power.
Michael Master's Aug. 30 column was also focused on the belief that Trump is completely innocent:
Before coming to any conclusions concerning the guilt of Donald Trump, let's watch what happens with these Trump indictments. Special counsel Jack Smith is 0 for 5 on appeals to the Supreme Court. Democrats have been continually reversed by this Supreme Court for using wrong laws and legal overreach and wrong interpretations of laws and the Constitution. All four Trump indictments by these Democratic prosecutors may suffer the same fate. We will not know until these cases go through the total process of trials and appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. How many other accusations about Trump by Democrats have been proven false?
Let me say it again: All four indictments are by Democratic prosecutors with a political agenda.
Today, the general public is only getting what the mainstream media emphasize, just as with the Russia hoax, with January 6 as an "armed insurrection" and with a host of other Democratic false accusations, so watch what happens to public sentiment as these cases proceed and the people learn more about election fraud and more about the rights granted to Trump under our First Amendment.
It wasn't all blind praise, though, even though Ilana Mercer started with it anyway in her Aug. 31 column:
That Donald Trump is a political martyr is indisputable. It was already bedrock truth in January, 2021, when I first uttered the M-word. The occasion was the president's second impeachment, passed impromptu in the House, with no due process of law afforded him whatsoever.
That the persecution of Trump is his badge of honor, a decoration of sorts, has been seconded in some unlikely quarters. Individuals calling themselves Blacks For Trump say the same. Trump is a Brother now: They designate you a felon for shooting your mouth off, and book you into the infamous Fulton County Jail in Atlanta; that means the system is messing with you, they say. You are one of us.
Brothers who speak like this are sensing a deep injustice that comes with institutional rot.
Actually, the Blacks for Trump guy is a conspiracy theorist with a wild and convoluted past. The victimhood continued:
Relays of prosecution launched against Trump have culminated in the Georgia arrest: That is persecution. Trump is being subjected to the Law of Rule, not the rule of law.
Now that Trump has been martyred – we pray for the former president and salute him for his resolve and resilience in the face of unadulterated evil. For the Permanent State, Democrat and Republican, want Trump gone for good – and worse. There! I said it. It's the truth.
The D.C. hydra head has denied Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a security detail; and they'd assassinate Donald Trump if they could. They'd do the same to you, if you mattered.
But Mercer didn't like most of the people Trump surrounded himself with during his presidency:
Admiration for Trump the Man notwithstanding, his failures as a president are irremediable. He normalized, even revived, neoconservatism, emboldening its representatives to make a comeback, by heeding his daughter and hiring so many of them. Nikki Haley and John Bolton are examples. He heeded their policy advice too:
Mercer is particularly nasty toward daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, claiming at one point that "Jared is androgynous, certainly her submissive." She went on to claim that Trump will continue to make bad appointments "because he lacks the wherewithal and the will to assess and appreciate intelligence," adding that "if Trump must have bling to front his administration – let him choose women like Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and Heather Mc Donald, who could deliver intellectually, are warriors with fight in them, do not exactly assault the eye ... and will not act like Delilah turned barber. Alas, men with fragile egos don't like women smarter than themselves."
Larry Tomczak brought back the full hero worship, though, in his Sept. 5 column:
The overwhelming majority of what's happening to our former president is politically motivated. We are firsthand observing a frightening, new chapter in America where the criminal justice system is being used to silence and stop a political candidate. An activist district attorney from just one of 160 districts in a state can level a felony charge to block a valid presidential candidate from his pursuit of public office. It's unprecedented in United States history!
This is a calculated and coordinated "hit job" engineered by dark spiritual forces intent on overturning traditional America to turn it into a totalitarian, big-government, socialist system with one-party progressive rule. Make no mistake about their Marxist ambitions. We are in uncharted waters, and we must not be asleep at the wheel while "Rome is burning."
What's happening is reprehensible. What the attorney general is allowing with Donald Trump – along with shielding Biden on his scandal of bribery, influence peddling and lying allegations – is devastating to our Constitution and continuance as a nation based on the rule of law.
[...]
Here's the deal: The corrupt media have a field day lampooning President Trump. More significantly, using government agencies and White House power to silence political opposition is not only unconstitutional but extremely dangerous and will accelerate the judgment of God upon the United States. Is it coincidental that the timing of the four indictments strangely coincides with congressional investigations into the Biden family scandal and the presidential election so the Biden "mess" can be overlooked by the masses?
Tomczak then asserted that "We must take pains to understand these issues, communicate truth to those with whom we interact plus pray fervently during this frightening era in our fragile republic's state." We won't be getting any of that from Tomczak, who's more interested in peddling partisan narratives than communicating truth.
