This post is intended to bring more attention to Teri Kanefield’s excellent FAQ page about Trump’s legal entanglements. Her blog and FAQ’s give enormous insight and nuance to what’s happening, particularly with a legal lens.
I’m writing this because the FAQ I’m summarizing addresses my personal impatience with how things are going with Trump, and I’ve found her perspective to be particularly insightful. I figured if it was helpful for me, I should share. Her post addresses a lot of “rage-inducing simplifications” that I know I’m prone to grab when I see the news.
Who is Teri Kanefield? From her blog:
I’ve written more than a dozen books; published more than 50 articles, essays, and stories in mainstream outlets; and filed hundreds of appellate briefs. Over a 30-year publishing career, I’ve written on a broad range of topics for a variety of audiences.
My legal and political analysis has appeared in The Washington Post, CNN.com, NBC, and other mainstream news outlets. A list of my publications is here.
I hold a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s in English with an emphasis in fiction writing from the University of California at Davis, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Yes, I have both a law degree and a master’s in fiction writing. (This is a cue for jokes. In fact, I wrote about the overlap here, in The Recorder, San Francisco’s legal newspaper.)
I’ll try to summarize the FAQ page a little bit here, but I truly encourage everyone to visit it directly and read it, it’s so good. Kanefield’s FAQ: terikanefield.com/…
She has an equally great (and exhaustive) FAQ about the DOJ’s J6 investigations here: terikanefield.com/…
Oh and a timeline related to the stolen documents case: terikanefield.com/…
Here’s a peek at the list of topics covered here in this FAQ:
#1: “THERE ARE NEVER ANY CONSEQUENCES” or “I AM WAITING AND WAITING FOR SOME ACCOUNTABILITY.”
#2: The consequences haven’t been harsh enough and that’s why Republicans keep committing crimes.
#3: At least while they are in jail, they can’t commit crimes
#4: If all the lawbreakers are not brought to justice, rule of law in America will be dead.
#5: Using just the evidence available through public reporting there is enough evidence to convict Trump.
#6: The process takes too long which shows that the system is hopelessly broken.
#7: Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.
#8: At least indicting Trump would provide some very solid schadenfreude.
#9: The entire system is corrupt. Just look at _______ (example)
#10: Trump has been committing crimes all of his life. Anyone else would have been in prison by now.
#11: Just Lock Him Up Now Already
#12: Teri, stop saying that we have a political problem. We have a law enforcement problem. Committing crimes is wrong and anyone who does should be punished harshly.
#13: You can’t go by the book when the book is burning” or “Democrats / the DOJ is bringing a knife to a gunfight.”
#14: Nothing else matters if Trump is not indicted.
#15: Teri Kanefield thinks that Trump should not be held accountable for his crimes.
In the conclusion she links to “Things To Do” about saving our democracy. Rather than link to this, too, I’ll encourage you again to scroll through her FAQ to the end and find the link yourself.
Follow Teri Kanefield on Mastodon: @Teri_Kanefield@law-and-politics.online