Weaponizing Justice

In a healthy democracy, political disputes are settled at the ballot box. In failed states, they are fought in criminal courtrooms. As Donald Trump targets political enemies--from James Comey to Adam Schiff to Lisa Cook--America is spiraling in the wrong direction. The risks of weaponizing the legal system against political rivals are profound.

First, politicizing prosecutions violates the core principle that the rule of law applies equally to everyone. Blending political zeal with criminal justice leads to treating individuals differently based on their party affiliation rather than their actual guilt or innocence.

In modern American politics, the messenger often outweighs the message, and the actor matters more than the act. A simple example illustrates the point. Republicans demanded Hillary Clinton be jailed over her email server, while Democrats pushed to indict Donald Trump for storing classified records at Mar-a-Lago. Few people applied a single, uniform standard to both cases.

This hyper-partisanship directly contradicts the foundation of equal justice under the law, which demands that individuals be judged solely on their actions--not who they are.

Justice Robert Jackson warned of the power of prosecutors to manipulate the law long ago in 1940. “The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America. His discretion is tremendous. He can have citizens investigated and, if he is that kind of person, he can have this done to the tune of public statements and veiled or unveiled intimations.”

This is still true today.
Second, using the courts to pursue opponents fuels the destructive cycle of political polarization. It escalates everyday debates from a contest between political rivals to a war between existential enemies.

Intense political conflict is nothing new, of course. It has always been part of American democracy. Yet we remain a single nation in a perilous world. Domestic infighting should not drain our national energy or weaken our ability to confront global threats. Viewed from a global standpoint, the common interests of Americans far outweigh their differences.

Political energy is far better spent winning elections and shaping policy than trying to imprison partisan adversaries.

Finally, targeting political opponents deters capable leaders from public service. The federal government already struggles to attract top-tier talent--to put it mildly. Just look at the top: In recent years, the presidency has swung from a reality-television figure (Donald Trump) to a veteran politician well past his peak (Joe Biden) and then back to Trump.

The leader of the free world ought to be among its most capable people. Obviously.

Americans should avoid discouraging talented individuals from entering public life out of fear that minor legal ambiguities will be twisted into partisan prosecutions. The cost of losing a political battle should be a lost election, not a prison sentence.

These concerns must be weighed carefully. Holding office should never grant immunity for past crimes or serve as a pass to commit new ones. Prosecutors have a duty to hold the powerful accountable, not just the powerless.

Striking this balance is delicate, but there must be a heavy bias toward keeping partisan bias out of the courtroom. Turning politics into a criminal sphere doesn't just corrupt the justice system—it jeopardizes American democracy.

William Cooper is an attorney and the award-winning author of The Trial of Donald H. Rumsfeld.

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