And the First Senate Dem to Join Truth Social Is …

Who knew a couple of years ago that the most interesting figure in Washington politics would be John Fetterman? He won election to the Senate after suffering a major stroke, and he mostly distinguished himself in fights over his apparel. But as Fetterman’s recovery continues, he has turned into a remarkable figure of integrity — even while still remaining firm on policy.

And if that weren’t enough to generate some admiration — and it is, it is! — then Fetterman’s decision to join an alternate social-media platform certainly is. And it ain’t BlueSky either:

The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both bullshit, and pardons are appropriate.

Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division.

As is often the case, I disagree with Sen. Fetterman while respecting the argument. The case against Hunter Biden was not BS; thousands of Americans get prosecuted for tax evasion and for weapons violations every year. The specific gun-control law under which Hunter got charged — requiring disclosure of drug use on background-check applications — was pushed for and passed by Democrats, including Joe Biden when he was in the Senate. 

Fetterman has an argument for saying that Hunter’s case drew inordinate attention because of his identity, but that puts the cart before the horse. The laws that Hunter broke are well-known and routinely enforced; Hunter nearly got let off the hook because of his identity. Had it not been for a judge throwing out a corrupt plea deal concocted by Biden’s DoJ, Hunter would not have even ended up with the crimes on the record.

In contrast, Alvin Bragg concocted felonies out of misdemeanor ledger-entry misrepresentations and married them to federal campaign finance law, outside of his jurisdiction. Both the FEC and the DoJ, which do have civil and criminal jurisdiction on such questions, rejected the theory of the law that Bragg advanced. The DoJ had tried to use it against John Edwards almost two decades earlier and flopped. The only person to face prosecution at a state level for this combination of circumstances was Donald Trump, and he’s the only person who will ever have to face felony prosecution for the laws Bragg used in his indictment. 

I’d also disagree on the pardon, but not because I think the case should stick. The court should have dismissed it, along with Letitia James’ absurd fraud lawsuit in which no one lost a dime in their transactions with Trump. Both cases should be dismissed and the litigants sanctioned for conducting politicized lawfare. 

However, give Fetterman full marks for making the argument, and for making it on a platform that most Democrats refuse to engage. As Politico points out, a handful of other Dems have joined Truth Social, but mainly for campaigning rather than actual engagement:

Although he is the first Senate Democrat to join Truth Social, a few other prominent Democrats — and Trump foes — have already made the leap, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Newsom, or more likely a staffer, used the account mainly to insult Trump and promote Kamala Harris. It has been remarkably quiet since October 20, when it became apparent that Harris was losing the election, but ‘his’ final post is pretty indicative of the rhetoric it employed all along:

.@realDonaldTrump is a broken person.

He’s increasingly acting deranged.

But he’s also not as interesting as he once was. 

He’s become a boring, deranged old man that is not meeting this moment.

That hardly counts as engagement. (It looks more like projection, honestly.) Even if I disagree with Fetterman’s argument here, at least he’s making an argument rather than just spewing invective. 

So once again, kudos to Senator John Fetterman for his integrity and his efforts to restore some rationality to politics.