The arc of the moral universe—that arc that is supposedly long and leaning toward justice—seems to be finally approaching its mark.
A series of events in recent days — Ronna McDaniel being thrown out of a window, John Eastman threatened to be disbarred, Carey Lake surrendering in a defamation suit — suggest the reckoning is about to come to an end.
It took some time. Too long to satisfy those who would rather have justice quick than certain.
But the humiliation of McDaniel, the punishment of Eastman and Lake, as well as the imprisonment of Peter Navarro, the Clinton Democrat turned Trump follower, all bring a welcome and much-needed measure of accountability.
Perhaps their punishment will deter others who would similarly seek to overthrow free and fair elections, insult the country's values and assault our democracy with their deception.
The four differ in their actions. But they all stem from the same toxic seed: Donald Trump's lie about the 2020 election, which he clearly and indisputably lost to Joe Biden.
McDaniel, while chair of the Republican National Committee, not only helped spread Trump's lie, but sought to pressure officials in Michigan — her home state — to withhold certification of Biden's win there.
Her reward was a $300,000-a-year contract to work as a political commentator for NBC, which had soiled itself in a misguided attempt to bring political diversity to its election coverage.
The network backed down and got rid of McDaniel only after a notable on-air outburst by several of its prominent personalities, who rightly questioned the promotion of a superstitious figure and an accomplice in an attempt to subvert the election.
As MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow put it, “You wouldn't hire a mobster to work in the district attorney's office, would you?”
McDaniel's quick dispatch was not a matter of silencing a conservative voice, as some might think. Rather, it was like getting the megaphone back from a known liar whose every word could and should be suspect.
(Another issue entirely is the amount of money doled out to McDaniel shortly after NBC made cuts to its news division — a reflection of the industry's preference for elevating partisans, both Democrats and Republicans, over journalists.)
Eastman's punishment came a day after McDaniel's unceremonious exit, when a California state bar judge recommended the lawyer revoke his law license for helping him hatch a deceptive scheme to keep Trump in office despite his election defeat.
Judge Yvette Rowland, who brought her recommendation for disbarment to the state Supreme Court, said it's one thing to provide a motivated lawyer. “However, Eastman's inaccurate assertions were lies that cannot be excused as zealous advocacy,” she concluded.
In fact, though, it would have been nice for the judge to have skipped Eastman's $10,000 fine, which seems a pittance considering the damage done by the former Orange County law school dean.
It's not as if he was testing out some new theories in moot court, or practicing “creative” law, as he claimed in a self-pitying podcast interview.
Eastman set out to overturn and invalidate the judgment of more than 80 million Americans who voted for Biden and cast their ballots with full faith that the results would be respected, just as they had for the previous 200-plus years in America.
(For members of the “what about” chorus, who complain that Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams called into question the legitimacy of their defeats, there's no comparison between seizing control of the lecture circuit and launching a completely bogus, direct legal attack. Let alone inciting a violent mob to storm the Capitol and prevent lawmakers from certifying The election.)
Fortunately, Navarro, one of Eastman's colleagues, is in prison after refusing to testify about the January 6 insurrection and his plan to prevent Congress from counting Biden's Electoral College victory.
The four-month prison hurdle is just the latest embellishment in Navarro's unusual career path from San Diego environmental mayor and Democratic congressional candidate to MAGA loyalist.
Finally, there is Curry Lake in Arizona.
She ran for governor in 2022 as Trump's running mate, and continued to do so for months after her loss, falsely claiming that she, too, was a victim of election fraud.
Her falsehood led to a defamation lawsuit by Maricopa County's Republican elections chair, in which Lake — now running for U.S. Senate — stopped running. Last week, she asked the judge to skip the trial and go straight to assessing damages.
There is hope for a major drain on Lake's bank account, followed by a resounding rejection by Arizona voters.
Of course, the purveyor of all this destruction and duplicity – Trump – has not yet faced any criminal penalties.
That moment may be approaching, as a New York City jury is scheduled to hear next month the matter of money Trump paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged one-night stand.
It's tempting to walk away and get rid of the annoying details. But it is important to remember the context.
Daniels' panic payout came after Trump was heard bragging on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape about committing sexual assault, which pushed his candidacy to the brink of collapse in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. Additional revelations about an affair could have cost Extramarital Trump White House; Certainly voters deserve to know the facts.
Unfortunately, other criminal cases, involving the former president's efforts to overturn the election and his negligent handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, may not reach the jury before November.
That leaves it up to voters to make their judgment on Trump, which should be a clear and unambiguous defeat at the ballot box.
But for now, at least, there is relief in holding to account some of the crooks and fraudsters who enabled his rampant mistakes.
After long waiting.
