Ben Shapiro’s Crusade to Prosecute Presidents Under RICO Comes Back to Haunt Him as He Blasts Trump Charges

Ben Shapiro, who once wrote an entire book about how Barack Obama should be prosecuted under the RICO statute,  is now lamenting the racketeering charges filed Monday against former President Donald Trump.

Shapiro tweeted Tuesday morning, “Whatever you think of the Trump indictments, one thing is for certain: the glass has now been broken over and over again. Political opponents can be targeted by legal enemies. Running for office now carries the legal risk of going to jail — on all sides.”

Larry King interviewed Shapiro in 2014 on his book: The People Vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration.

“Has the Obama administration acted like a criminal cabal as Shapiro alleges?” asked King, as he introduced the author. “And if so, is prosecution of a sitting president the answer, in lieu of impeachment?”

Shapiro explained, “I make the case that the RICO Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act from 1970, which allows for civil charges — people can file civil suits — that that be broadened to allow people to sue members of the executive branch. So, the people themselves, essentially, become the guardians of the criminal law. Because, sorry, but I just don’t trust the executive branch to prosecute its own guys.”

“What did he do, hands on, that was criminal?” King asked of then-President Obama.

“Well, you see, this is the problem, this is why you have to use the RICO Act,” Shapiro answered. “So, no president is actually going to do things — unless you’re Richard Nixon, presumably, and there are tapes — is going to have to do things that are particularly hands on. The government is run more like a mafiaesque organization, which is, you have somebody at the top who makes, you know, a basic demand that certain things be done, and somebody at the low level says, ‘OK, well, you know, I want to up my career.’ This is Henry II with Thomas Beckett, ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’ And someone goes and rids him of the meddlesome priest.”

Trump called the charges against him and 18 co-defendants for conspiring to tamper with election results in Georgia, a “witch hunt.” Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis gave them until August 25 to surrender to authorities.

Watch the clip above via YouTube.