The Coronavirus pandemic is benefitting President Trump. This past March the Supreme Court was supposed to hear oral arguments over whether the House of Representatives had the legal authority to subpoena financial records of President Trump. However, the Supreme Court has delayed the hearing due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Despite the fact that the subpoenas were issued last April. (It needs to be pointed out that the Supreme Court did hear arguments and rule on the Wisconsin voting case after the postponement of other cases). The arguments on President Trump’s financial records may be heard later this year or next year, but the ruling will not be likely until after the November election. President Trump’s financial records could show a potential conflict of interest and could explain why the President is so benevolent toward authoritarian rulers. But voters will not know.
Second, the Department of Justice was to turn over to Judge Reggie Walton on March 31st the unredacted version of The Mueller Report so the judge could determine if the Justice Department was to make public the report. This has also been delayed until April 20th at the earliest and the ruling may also be delayed until after the election. The Mueller “investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.” William Barr was to testify to House Judicial Committee on March 31 and answer questions about his handling of the Roger Stone case and the Mueller report. This also has been postponed.
President Trump’s approval rating has gone up because of his nightly TV appearances. Vox news reporter Sean Collins reported (3/24/20) “The Trump administration’s response has, overall, been controversial. It has been criticized for acting too slowly once it learned of the threat the virus posed, for eliminating public health positions meant to guard against pandemics, and Trump himself has been censured for spreading misinformation. As Vox’s German Lopez noted, Trump has given the public incorrect statements on a number of important things, including, ‘whether the outbreak will get worse, how long a vaccine will take to make, whether testing is widely available, and how long social distancing guidelines will remain in effect, among other examples.’” The evidence is clear that the Coronavirus pandemic is helping President Trump.
