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I went to bed Thursday night happy, secure in the knowledge that we are a nation of laws and not of men ("Trump indicted," front page, March 31).

The former president now has a chance to defend his name in a court of law. Let justice move forward.

Richard A. Pommier, Long Prairie

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Is there anyone in leadership within the Democratic Party, at any level, with the courage to say that the indictment of former President Donald Trump is an abuse of the legal system and a miscarriage of justice?

Tom Hagen, Plymouth

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As usual, the Trump apologists can't see the forest for the trees. The crime in question was political (bigly!); it helped get him elected. The laws he broke were political, they were crafted in our wonderful democratic system to protect itself from the crooked. So prosecution of the crime is political, too. The system is working, and trying to subvert the system is un-American.

David Paulson, Minnetonka

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They did it! After years of trying, the Democrats finally got Trump.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted the former president. And will now get his long sought-after mug shot of him.

Bragg is now an instant hero to millions of people. And will be cherished by the media and talk-show hosts. Bragg will also get his book, movie deals and media appearances. And will be financially set for life.

Bragg may even end up on Mount Rushmore down the road. By executive order, of course.

Well played, DA Bragg.

Neil F. Anderson, Richfield

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When a particular individual is the subject of so many "witch hunts," a reasonable person may have to consider the possibility that there really is a witch.

Doug Norris, Brooklyn Park

RONALD REAGAN

Right on Russia, even years later

John Rash correctly notes that President Ronald Reagan's view of Russia as a totalitarian threat to freedom and democracy was right; Rash is also correct in his criticism of GOP leaders Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump for their failure to recognize this fact about Russia with "Reaganesque clarity" ("Campaigns past, present reflect on Reagan's' legacy," Opinion Exchange, March 25).

Rash quotes an expert commending Reagan for "speaking truth about our adversaries and their nature and their aims" and closes by reminding us that America's role as the "indispensable nation in the battle against totalitarianism" is " history worth heeding." But DeSantis and Trump are not the first leaders who failed to heed history. We need only to go back a decade or so to find another American leader who failed to do so.

When then-GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, "Russia — this is, without question, our number one geopolitical foe," President Barack Obama insisted that this showed Romney was out of touch when it came to threats facing our country. When the issue was brought up in the 2012 presidential debates, Obama doubled down on this view, joking that, "The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War's been over for 20 years." Yes, Reagan was right, but so was Mitt Romney.

Ronald Haskvitz, Golden Valley

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John Rash frets about how Ronald Reagan should be remembered after a recent New York Times article revealing a "four-decade secret" about the 1981 Iranian hostage release.

"Secret" to those who get their news from the New York Times, perhaps. But people who read more broadly know that Reagan sent his campaign manager, Bill Casey, to Madrid in 1980 to convince the Iranians they could get a better deal from Ronnie than from Jimmy.

The U.S. Constitution defines treason as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Seems about right to me.

In his 1991 memoir "My Turn to Speak," Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, president of Iran from 1980-81, wrote, "in late October 1980, everyone was openly discussing the agreement with the Americans on the Reagan team." In 2013, Bani-Sadr further said that Reagan and Ayatollah Khomeini's secret arrangement had "prevented the attempts by myself and then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter to free the hostages."

As Israel's Yitzhak Shamir left office in 1993, he confirmed it: "Of course. … I know in America, they know it."

Independent journalist Bob Parry wrote four dozen columns on the topic at Consortium News from 1995 until 2015. Check out his 1993 book, "October Surprise, Trick or Treason."

Reagan does leave a legacy — that of a treasonous liar, a B-movie actor who could deliver his lying lines with a winning smile.

William Beyer, St. Louis Park

ENERGY

Can't use it without infrastructure

Thank you to U.S. House Republicans for kicking off the conversation of permitting reform with HR 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act ("House GOP approves broad bill to 'unleash' American energy," StarTribune.com, March 30). I applaud that the first discussion of the session is on our energy systems. We need to speed up building the infrastructure that will allow more clean energy to come on line on our grid. Our current permitting process is causing a bottleneck. An analysis from Princeton University from September 2022 shows that if we don't build clean energy infrastructure faster, we will only achieve about 20% of the potential carbon pollution reduction from climate policies already in place through the Inflation Reduction Act.

We need bipartisan action to complete this conversation and enact needed changes to our energy infrastructure permitting process that makes permitting more efficient, predictable and transparent and ensures robust and early community engagement. I'm counting on Rep. Ilhan Omar and our Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar to engage in those bipartisan conversations to come to an agreement on reforms that can pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law. This will move us forward with the clean energy we need to reduce greenhouse gases and address climate change.

Mindy Ahler, Edina

GAS TAX

Use the money that's already there

After reading the opinion piece by Minnesota House Democrat Steve Elkins on his desire to raise the gas tax, I was left shaking my head ("The many reasons a gas tax increase is overdue in Minnesota," Opinion Exchange, March 30). Minnesota has a $17.5 billion surplus and the DFL is debating which taxes to raise. Think of how messed up that is.

Brent Walton, Wayzata

MONEY

Satisfaction can't be bought

A front-page story on March 29, "Judge issues stern ruling in feud over Minnesota family's $1B estate," reminded me of this story from investor John C. Bogle in his book, "Enough," since it applies to the daughter who thinks she was shorted:

"At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, 'Yes, but I have something he will never have ... enough.'"

Scott A. Schneider, Robbinsdale