Both Sen. Collins and columnist Mr. Fossel obscure an important fundamental truth with “nuance.” Prosecutorial discretion to bring charges or not bring charges – just like the patrol officer’s discretion to write someone a ticket or ignore their speeding infraction – does not change the fundamental truth of guilt. What matters more, that someone committed a crime, or that they got caught and prosecuted?

As a retired state and federal public defender for over 20 years, I can tell hundreds of stories about prosecutorial discretion. But at the end of the day, it is only the jury’s verdict that matters: guilty or not guilty.

The jury found Trump guilty. He is a criminal. Whether or not the prosecutor should have ignored the facts because of who Trump was is irrelevant. Trump being Trump doesn’t change the fact that Trump committed a serious crime.

Sen. Collins and Mr. Fossel can, just like anyone of us, decide to look the other way and “excuse” the crime because of who Trump is to them. But we can all agree that the jury found Trump guilty and he is a criminal.

Maybe most of us will also look the other way in November. We can only hope individual decisions will be made based on fundamental truths, not nuances or peer pressure. But they don’t have to be.

And those who have the courage to admit a fundamental truth in the face of intimidating negative peer pressure deserve our respect. Not so much the others.

John Henderson
Westport Island