The solution offered by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to the purportedly politically motivated fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump, which was issued this week in Georgia, is to indict political opponents of hers.
“Why hasn’t a Republican state AG or Republican county DA arrested Democrats for crimes they’ve committed?” Greene posted online early Tuesday. “Ken Paxton was trying to until the Texas RINOs impeached him. Democrats have gone full communism and are playing for keeps, it’s time for Republicans to grow a spine.” Paxton was elected as state attorney general in Texas and is awaiting a trial in the state legislature after impeachment. He had targeted various purportedly suspect schemes around elections while able to exercise power, though an infamous example — his case filed with the U.S. Supreme Court after the 2020 election — failed. Greene’s description of Democrats as having broadly committed “crimes” doesn’t reflect any actual court finding.
Her insistence that Democrats are perpetuating “communism” is also incorrect. There remains no indication that any of the four criminal cases filed so far against former President Donald Trump have procedurally been handled in any fashion substantially different from many other charges and cases that have emerged from the U.S. system of grand juries, which must themselves approve these charges before they’re made official. Still, allegations against the Democratic Party of “communism” are not new, however divorced from the facts. Donald Trump Jr. previously compared circumstances faced by his father to those faced by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been jailed in Russia.
Some have argued that allowing a former president or current presidential contender to enjoy blanket — or nearly blanket — immunity from criminal charges would itself be more destabilizing for democracy, providing opportunities for leaders or those seeking a leadership position to act without possibilities of consequence. Meanwhile, Greene is sticking to it. On her official X (Twitter) account, she posted an image of an American flag turned upside down, implying the U.S. was experiencing an existential crisis.
Why hasn’t a Republican state AG or Republican county DA arrested Democrats for crimes they’ve committed?
Ken Paxton was trying to until the Texas RINOs impeached him.
Democrats have gone full communism and are playing for keeps, it’s time for Republicans to grow a spine.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) August 15, 2023
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 15, 2023
