Process Is The Punishment: Why Endless Trump Probes Never Require Convictions

The Manhattan district attorney is reopening an investigation into former President Trump’s hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, and you may be thinking, “When will they ever learn?”

From Russiagate, a pair of impeachments, the Justice Department’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, to yet another special counsel, it seems like Trump’s tormentors are an army of Charlie Browns trying to kick the football out of Lucy’s elusive hold.

But that’s not what’s really happening. Prosecutors usually only like to take on cases they know they can win, but it’s different when it comes to dirtying up Trump. Law professor Malcolm Feeley said it best: The process is the punishment.