Judging Trump’s Claims  

When I attended law school back in the Middle Ages, we were taught some Latin. Two words we learned are the title of this piece. I’m sure you can guess they translate to “allegation” and “proof.” Allegations, of course, are merely claims or accusations. They can be true or false, but without probata, i.e., competent, credible evidence, we are, in most cases, incapable knowing whether the allegata is believable. Simple Law 101.

The second Trump administration is flooding the zone with executive orders heavy on allegata but dreadfully lacking in probata. However, by releasing a firehouse of allegata, the line between allegata and probata can become erased, and, voila! the allegata becomes probata. This happens mostly to the tens of millions of Americans whose grievances and prejudices drive them into believing his allegata and don’t care that the probata doesn’t exist. A prime example: his nauseatingly repeated claim that he won the 2020 election. Upon the umpteenth repetition of that allegata, MAGA America embraced it as probata and invaded the Capitol looking to find and hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.

Sometimes Trump or his alter ego will attempt to offer probata to support their allegata. For example, as proof that Social Security is rampant with waste, fraud and abuse, Elon Musk, in his haste to prove that the administration is rescuing millions of misspent taxpayer dollars, disclosed certain records (probata) which he believed showed that a substantial number of 150-year-old, and obviously dead Americans are still being paid Social Security. Here, the evidence Musk carelessly brought forward was his reliance upon his callow collection of so-called IT experts who did not understand Social Security’s software, got it completely wrong and supplied Musk with bad probata. By the way, a corollary to the allegata-probata rule is that bad probata is not probata). Notwithstanding it was incompetent sources supplying mistaken facts, it confirmed both Trump’s and Musk ’s warped bias, and Musk and his junior rangers have been rewarded with even more permission to poke about into our private lives.

<blockquote class=”et-pullquote left quote”>,There’s another Latin phrase we lawyers never say anymore: “onus probandi actori incumbi”: he who asserts must prove</blockquote>. Yesterday, Trump asserted that Ukraine started the war with Russia. Now he must prove it. He won’t. He may try to convince his cult followers with more repetition of the allegata, but practically the whole world knows he has no believable probata.

In summary, we, the public, the media and the courts, can’t judge truth based on allegata alone. More allegata is no substitute for probata. When wild or questionable allegata begins to fly, we must insist on credible probata, not more misrepresentations, exaggerations and fabrications. Trump and his people must be called out. Courts are doing a pretty good job at it, but they can only sit and wait for a case to come their way. The media, especially the White House press corps, needs to become more courageous and do the job the First Amendment expects it to do – preserve democracy. Finally, most of us know the difference between allegata and probata, so let’s use that tool and help bring down this fascist regime.

Here endeth the lesson.