Why Trump must drop out

“If you’re indicted, you’re invited,” quipped the comedian Joey Adams about a birthday party the disgraced lawyer Roy Cohn threw for himself. Cohn was a source for Adams’s wife Cindy, the New York Post gossip columnist and one of Roy’s pals in the media. Joey and Cindy spilled many a drink aboard Cohn’s yacht, and Cindy got many a spicy story from Cohn.

A glittering guest list drawn from café society — politicians, judges, wealthy businessmen and mobsters gathered at Cohn’s soirées, invited by telegram to pay tribute to the prince of America’s dark side. A perennial guest was the flashy real estate developer Donald Trump.

As a lawyer and a former federal prosecutor, I never thought being indicted was a laughing matter. Cohn enjoyed being indicted (he was three times; beat the rap three times), and Donald Trump may enjoy it just as much. Trump has been indicted four times and stands charged with 91 felony counts, 44 federal and 47 state charges. He is a defendant in a civil suit brought by New York’s attorney general charging him with fraudulent overstatement of his assets. There will also be a separate phase in the defamation action brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her in a department store dressing room many years ago (a jury already returned a verdict for Carroll in a prior incarnation of the case).

In addition, there is the serious case, inevitably to be brought sometime soon, that Trump is disqualified from public office by reason of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prevents a former office who has participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States from ever again holding public office. Asa Hutchinson or Chris Christie, who have both said they believe Trump disqualified, would have standing to sue. Or the case might arise if election officials in various states refuse to put Trump on the ballot — then Trump, as the aggrieved party, would have standing to sue, and the case would be on a bullet train for the Supreme Court.

Trump’s PAC has already spent an estimated $40 million in legal fees, and the shindig has just begun. His only apparent defense to all his legal troubles is that he might just be elected the 47th president.

A new Wall Street Journal poll encourages him: Trump has the support of nearly 60 percent of GOP primary voters, up 11 points since April, with no one else even close.

Among GOP primary voters, getting indicted would appear to be a badge of honor. Asked about the indictments of Trump, more than 60 percent of Republican primary voters said each was politically motivated and without merit. Some 78 percent said Trump’s actions after the 2020 election were legitimate efforts to ensure an accurate vote, while 16 percent said Trump had illegally tried to block Congress from certifying an election he had lost. 48 percent said the indictments made them more likely to vote for Trump in 2024. There was apparently no polling on the Mar-a-Lago documents case, which lacks the political flavor of the other indictments.

In the general election, Biden and Trump are locked in a dead heat, 46 percent to 46 percent, in a two-person rematch. A significant share of those polled — some 17 percent — were undecided.

The polling has caused Washington Post columnist Max Boot to tweet: “What is wrong with people?”

Political pundit Ron Brownstein offers this explanation: “Reason why Trump/Biden are so close is polarization & ‘calcification’ leaves few voters open to switching. But there’s more to it. The big factors so far shaping 24 are offsetting each other: inflation & age are hurting Biden while abortion & democracy hurt Trump. Sums to stalemate.”

Trump must not run for office. If he knows what is good for him, he would be well advised to withdraw from the race. Given the gravity and scope of his crimes, the duration of his illegal activity and his abuse of our highest office, justice requires that if he is convicted he receive a prison sentence equal to or greater than those received by lead January 6 defendants. If he withdraws from the race, however, and is remorseful, a judge, seeking to temper justice with mercy, may well not send him to prison out of “the high degree of respect” due the high office he once held.

Biden may also withdraw, particularly if Trump is out, and he has plenty of time to do it. Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection on March 31, 1968. Polls show that most Democrats have serious misgivings about Biden’s age and apparent frailty. Few have any appetite for Kamala Harris, whom many view as a cypher.

The Democrats have a strong bench. A ticket, consisting of, for example, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock would be stronger than any of the seven Republicans on the recent debate stage, none of whom are getting much traction.

We almost lost our precious democracy on January 6 when the mob tried to take over the government, and the plotters attempted to subvert the Constitution. We must not let this happen again.

James D. Zirin, author, and legal analyst, is a former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District. He is also the host of the acclaimed public television talk show and podcast Conversations with Jim Zirin.