Attorney General Garland Should Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate Trump

Some people worry that if Trump is investigated and prosecuted for his criminal behavior, it will increase divisiveness and stir up accusations of political vengefulness and emulate banana republic style regime changes in which an ousted president is routinely thrown in jail. Indeed, there would be such outcries from the right-wing camp if Trump is prosecuted, but for guardians of the law and American democracy to be intimidated by that prospect would be a grievously worse. As Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe has written, Attorney General Merrick Garland should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Trump.

Given the gravity of his alleged crimes, overwhelming evidence of which is already enshrined in the public record, it would be a devastating tragedy if fears of political fallout deterred the Justice Department from upholding the principle that no person is above the law.