In a column for the conservative Bulwark, University of Baltimore School of Law Professor Kimberly Wehle claims that Donald Trump's lawsuits in federal courts that insist he still has the power to invoke executive privilege are helping keep hope alive among his fans that he is still the president -- and not Joe Biden.
According to Wehle, who is also a former federal prosecutor, Trump's court cases -- despite his string of stinging defeats -- keep him in the headlines with Biden relegated to a footnote for denying the claims which, to date, the courts have agreed with.
As she explained for the Bulwark, "These legal losses are stealth wins for Trump insofar as they feed the right-wing narrative that he—not Biden—is the rightful president. The lawsuits elevate Trump's stature, giving the misimpression that the ex-president is sufficiently powerful to create constitutional clashes with the actual constitutional government."
She then warned, "In effect, Team Trump is quietly fueling the Big Lie through the legal system."
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To make her case she wrote, "Biden is the president. Trump is not. By suing NARA and securing an injunction that temporarily binds Biden's hands, Trump is shoring up the perception among his devotees that he is a sort of shadow president or president-in-waiting—or worse, for his most conspiracy-minded fans, that if there's only one president, it is Trump who has the real power."
Adding that it doesn't matter whether the former president wins or loses in the courts -- always with appeals to follow -- she pointed out that it has always been a major part of his playbook.
"It's classic Trump to push boundaries that nobody ever had the audacity to push before. But couple the NARA suit with Bannon's contempt indictment and the continuing intransigence of the Big Lie becomes downright frightening," she wrote before lamenting. "Our political-legal system has allowed the Big Lie to take hold to the point where the rule of law and the threat of criminal jail time don't seem to matter to its carriers and their lawyers who take an oath to uphold the Constitution."
According to the law professor. it will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Democrats in charge to put a quick end to the farce.
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"If American democracy is to be saved, it might be time for Attorney General Merrick Garland and Democrats in Congress to stop playing by the old rules, which don't seem to apply anymore anyway," she concluded.