Trump Could Be Offered a Public Office Ban for No Jail Time, Like a New Spiro Agnew
One name floating around these days a lot around former President Donald Trump is former Vice President Spiro Agnew. And
Ivy Griffith
One name floating around these days a lot around former President Donald Trump is former Vice President Spiro Agnew.
And there’s a good reason for that. Once upon a time, President Richard Nixon was going down in flames, and so was his Vice President, Spiro Agnew. Agnew served as the 39th Vice President of the United States under Nixon, and there are some eerie parallels being drawn between what he went through, and what Trump is currently going through.
Parallels that may provide a sign of things to come for Trump.
Agnew began his downward trajectory in 1973, when the Department of Justice began an investigation into charges of extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations relating mostly to his time as governor of Maryland.
Like Trump, Agnew accused people of lying and making things up to accuse him of the crimes. He was defiant, saying he “would not resign” if indicted. Agnew even appeared before the American people to give a speech in 1973 to talk about the looming 40 federal felonies he was facing in a massive indictment.
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Agnew told the American people, “Because of these tactics which have been employed against me, because small and fearful men have been frightened into furnishing evidence against me, they have perjured themselves in many cases is my understanding, I will not resign if indicted. I will not resign if indicted.”
11 days later, he resigned.
And the way the Department of Justice handled the case from that point on may be a sign of how they will offer a path forward for Trump.
The DOJ offered Agnew no jail time on one major condition. They required that the evidence of all his alleged crimes would be made public and in writing.
In exchange for a plea deal, he had to agree to leave elected office and resign.
Instead of prison, he faced a fine and three years probation.
Is that the kind of deal Trump can expect? It would make sense.
Trump very likely faces prison time if convicted of even a few of the federal felonies he’s accused of. While Trump can accuse the DOJ of engaging in a “witch hunt” or perpetuating a “hoax,” special counsel Jack Smith methodically laid out a very damning case in his indictment.
Trump now has to think about “what can I do that causes me the least harm?”
Right now, that path seems to lead through another term as President – and a potential self-pardon.
But if the Department of Justice were to offer no prison time in exchange for his abstaining from public office, that could be a potential deal on the table in the future.
Of course then, that begs the question: why?
If Trump has committed 37 federal felonies, and if he’s convicted – two major “ifs” – then shouldn’t he serve prison time?
The fact that it was his very time in office that gave him access to allegedly commit these crimes changes the ballgame. The end game then, for the DOJ, may be to prevent him from gaining access to that level of power again – in order to protect the security of the United States.
In that case, a plea deal with no prison time would be the best course of action for the country’s security.
It’s hard to say if that’s what will happen here.
After all, Agnew’s crimes were not as serious as the Espionage Act – prison time may be inevitable for Trump if he were to be convicted.
But then again, keeping him from allegedly repeating the crimes may be a tempting enough possibility to change the landscape entirely.