Peggy Noonan: This Is the 'Wrong' Indictment

By all accounts, it looks like former President Trump will soon be indicted, a "weighty and meaningful act" in the annals of American history, writes Peggy Noonan. And in her latest Wall Street Journal op-ed, the conservative columnist calls it a mistake. Noonan, however, is not mounting a defense of Trump. She writes that he must be held accountable for his actions—but by that she is referring to his role in the Capitol riot and his "thuggish effort to overturn a democratic outcome in the state of Georgia." Hush money payments to an adult film star? Please. "Charging him in the Stormy Daniels case is below us—not below him, but us," she writes. "The subject matter is below us. The nature of the charges is below us."

Yes, she knows that his payments to Daniels have "tax implications." But almost everything has tax implications. Yes, she knows this is how the feds got Al Capone, on tax evasion. But Capone "wasn't president," and the comparison doesn't fly in her view. Nevertheless, we are about to get an indictment—the "wrong indictment," writes Noonan. "Save the mug shot for Georgia, the handcuffs for Jan. 6. Those were real offenses against the country. Not Stormy Daniels, which was an offense against his wife." Read the full column. (More Donald Trump stories.)