Ruth Marcus: “It is terrible, tragic even, that it has come to this. If the idea of bringing criminal charges against a former president and current presidential candidate sits uneasily with you, I agree. It should, and you do not have to be a Trump partisan to conclude that Smith might have erred here.
”“That is not my view, but I do believe that this is not a step to be taken lightly. The risks of charging Trump include inflaming even more distrust of what his allies will claim is a partisan ‘weaponized’ Justice Department; injecting more turmoil into an already inflamed and divided electorate; and, most frightening, unleashing a punitive cycle of prosecuting political opponents.”