By MAGGIE HABERMAN
While Mr. Trump has spoken often of the significance of the rule of law, his actions have raised questions about his commitment to hallmarks of the American system like due process, equal protection under the law, independence of judicial proceedings from political considerations, and respect for orders from the courts.
“I don’t think you have to be a champion of it; all you need to do is comply with it,” said Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor who was a solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan.
“And he shows himself absolutely unwilling to respect it,” Mr. Fried said, citing the pardon as a particular thumb in the eye of a judge. “It’s a use of authority specifically to undermine the only weapon that a judge has in this kind of ultimate confrontation.”
“Torture works,” Mr. Trump said at a South Carolina event in early 2016, a statement he tried to modify when some of his outside advisers threatened to leave his campaign.
After proposing a wall along the southern border, he repeatedly attacked a federal judge of Mexican descent who was overseeing a case involving Mr. Trump’s private company. A “so-called judge,” he called him.
“Those were rhetorical excesses. This is a use of power to disarm and make empty the actions of a judge,” Mr. Fried said. “You come with a certain level of constitutional literacy, and he is totally illiterate in these domains. You think every day it can’t get worse, and then it does.”
He has expressed anger with the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest supporters, for agreeing to take the job when he knew he might recuse himself from inquiries related to possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. And he asked Mr. Sessions in the spring if the federal charges could be dropped against Mr. Arpaio, and was promptly told no.
“You get the sense that this is kind of New York wheeler-dealer territory, where you say whatever pops in your mouth to get through the negotiation,” Mr. Waldman said.
“In his mind, a tough president was Nixon,” Mr. Brinkley said. “He creates a kind of fantasy world, and so he wants to be seen as one of the tough guys.”
The pardon, the conservative Washington Examiner said in an editorial, showed “once again Trump really means ‘busting heads’ when he says ‘law and order.’”
The editorial added: “But ‘law and order,’ if the words have any meaning, has to apply to government actors as well. Lawless sheriffs promote disorder, and that’s what Arpaio did to get himself convicted.”
On Sunday, on Fox News, the secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, was asked whether the president spoke for American values. Mr. Tillerson demurred.
“The president speaks for himself,” Mr. Tillerson said.
http://app.nytimes.com/
While Mr. Trump has spoken often of the significance of the rule of law, his actions have raised questions about his commitment to hallmarks of the American system like due process, equal protection under the law, independence of judicial proceedings from political considerations, and respect for orders from the courts.
“I don’t think you have to be a champion of it; all you need to do is comply with it,” said Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor who was a solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan.
“And he shows himself absolutely unwilling to respect it,” Mr. Fried said, citing the pardon as a particular thumb in the eye of a judge. “It’s a use of authority specifically to undermine the only weapon that a judge has in this kind of ultimate confrontation.”
“Torture works,” Mr. Trump said at a South Carolina event in early 2016, a statement he tried to modify when some of his outside advisers threatened to leave his campaign.
After proposing a wall along the southern border, he repeatedly attacked a federal judge of Mexican descent who was overseeing a case involving Mr. Trump’s private company. A “so-called judge,” he called him.
“Those were rhetorical excesses. This is a use of power to disarm and make empty the actions of a judge,” Mr. Fried said. “You come with a certain level of constitutional literacy, and he is totally illiterate in these domains. You think every day it can’t get worse, and then it does.”
He has expressed anger with the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest supporters, for agreeing to take the job when he knew he might recuse himself from inquiries related to possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. And he asked Mr. Sessions in the spring if the federal charges could be dropped against Mr. Arpaio, and was promptly told no.
“You get the sense that this is kind of New York wheeler-dealer territory, where you say whatever pops in your mouth to get through the negotiation,” Mr. Waldman said.
“In his mind, a tough president was Nixon,” Mr. Brinkley said. “He creates a kind of fantasy world, and so he wants to be seen as one of the tough guys.”
The pardon, the conservative Washington Examiner said in an editorial, showed “once again Trump really means ‘busting heads’ when he says ‘law and order.’”
The editorial added: “But ‘law and order,’ if the words have any meaning, has to apply to government actors as well. Lawless sheriffs promote disorder, and that’s what Arpaio did to get himself convicted.”
On Sunday, on Fox News, the secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, was asked whether the president spoke for American values. Mr. Tillerson demurred.
“The president speaks for himself,” Mr. Tillerson said.
http://app.nytimes.com/
