I'm Jesse Wegman, and I'm a member of the Times editorial board.
The editorial board is a group of journalists from different areas of expertise,
and we discuss the issues of the day and we weigh in on the ones that I think are usually most in people's minds and in the public conversation.
And I write specifically about the intersection of law and politics,
which has been a quiet intersection for the last 10 years or so.
So this week we are witnessing something that no American has ever witnessed before,
which is the criminal trial of a president of the United States.
And so it's important for us to think about it and to consider what it means and how we should conceive of the next few weeks and months going forward up to election day.
Donald Trump likes to say, "Oh, I'm being victimized,
nobody's ever been treated this badly."
And I think it's important for us to keep in mind and not forget while he's saying all these things that in fact the system is operating as intended.
He is getting exactly the guarantees that the Constitution affords to all criminal defendants.
He may be acquitted, he may be convicted,
but he's ending up getting all the guarantees that the Constitution offers.
It's very easy, I think,
in this politically polarized moment for us to be cynical and to think,
"Oh, you know, Americans just,
everyone operates in their own self-interest,
everyone operates through motivated reasoning to get to the result they want."
I just don't think that's the case, especially in criminal jury trials.