In winning the White House, he avoids the so-called ‘big house’.
Whether or not prison was a prospect awaiting Donald Trump is a moot point now, as he now enjoys the protection of the presidency.
Politically, and legally, he has played a blinder.
The delay strategy that he pursued through a grinding court process knocked his federal prosecution past the election date and when his numbers came up, he wasn’t going down.
It is an astonishing set of circumstances, given the alleged crimes and alleged criminal.
Separate federal indictments accused Mr Trump of nothing less than an effort to overthrow democracy and there was the accusation in Florida that he mishandled classified documents.
Mr Trump insisted he was innocent but, with the case dismissals, those denials won’t now be tested before a jury.
Neither will the evidence on the indictment – eye-watering in the reading.
Who can forget his 6 January “fight like hell” speech or the pictures of classified documents in boxes, seemingly hidden in his Mar-a-Lago bathroom, with alleged instructions to staff to conceal them?
President Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Washington on 6 January 6, 2021. File pic: AP
Records stored in a bathroom and shower in Mar-a-Lago. Pic: US Justice Department/AP
This from a man who was president and will be again.
In dropping its prosecutions, the Department of Justice makes it clear that it feels it had a case. It states in its court filing:
“The government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have.”
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It leaves questions, not least about their timing. Why were the prosecutions not brought earlier, giving Donald Trump less opportunity to run down the clock?
It also raises questions about the administration of justice in the US.
Of all the cases that Americans deserved to see tried in an American court before an American jury, can there have been any more important? Probably none more consequential.
There remain cases working their way through state courts in New York (the hush money conviction) and Georgia (election interference).
There’s every chance they will go the same way.
The fact that the federal cases won’t reach a courtroom is a function of the US justice system – a dysfunction, many would argue.
The counter view, of course, is that the criminal pursuit of Donald Trump was the product of a weaponised justice system.
Read more:
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It is articulated in a statement from Trump spokesman, Steven Cheung, who said the justice department’s decision “ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law”.
It’s a victory for Donald Trump, certainly.
For the rule of law? On that, the jury’s out.
