Opinion: Why Trump’s indictments don’t feel like part of the finale

File photo/Mark Peterson/The New York Times / Former President Donald Trump addresses supporters at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, 2023. “It should feel like the fulfillment of Americas commitment to justice that Trump is finally facing some accountability for his recklessness and ruthlessness, for his disavowal of constitutional concerns and apparent contempt for the law,” writes New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. File photo/Mark Peterson/The New York Times / Former President Donald Trump addresses supporters at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, 2023. “It should feel like the fulfillment of Americas commitment to justice that Trump is finally facing some accountability for his recklessness and ruthlessness, for his disavowal of constitutional concerns and apparent contempt for the law,” writes New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow.

By Charles M. Blow / The New York Times July 20, 2023 5 min read

It looks as if Donald Trump will be indicted — again.

Federal prosecutors have informed him that he’s a target of their investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

This would be Trump’s third criminal indictment and counting. Prosecutors in Georgia are still considering charges.

It should feel like the fulfillment of America’s commitment to justice that Trump is finally facing some accountability for his recklessness and ruthlessness, for his disavowal of constitutional concerns and apparent contempt for the law.

So why does it feel so anticlimactic? Why does the feeling of foreboding remain? Why is there no sense of finality in the air?