I tire of this blather: "First, no American is above the law, including presidents and former presidents." Today's two-tiered judicial system makes a mockery of the premise for making such an inane statement. Just stop. 🛑
I believe that FBI Director Chris Wray said this week that they simply didn’t have the personnel to stop protesters outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.
Yes but they have adequate personnel to perform SWAT team raids on old men such as Roger Stone and Peter Navarro and to unleash legions of apparatchiks to harass moms who want to know what filth their children are being taught. Or to gin up phony plots against lunatics such as Gretchie Whitmer.
But, again, of course, inadequate personnel to investigate credible reports of school shooters, terrorists and jihadists taking flying lessons but not landing lessons....... Clowns led by a blow dried buffoon.
Since we’re all speculating at this point, here’s my contribution. The whole intent of the JustUs department, their shock troops in the FBI and their coconspirators in our “intelligence” agencies is to incite naïve Trump supporters or some unstable persons they'll label as such, into some ill-advised actions. It isn’t like we haven’t seen this movie before. I doubt they’ll engage Ray Epps again to move things along, but they have plenty of other re-treads with lots of false flag practice runs they can employ. They’ve already engaged their propagandists in the media and never-Trump flunkies like Michael Steele to smear Trump supporters and dare I say freedom and liberty loving Americans with statements like “assume all Republicans are dangerous until proven otherwise”. Never mind his previous warnings of “civil war” if Trump were impeached the first time never happened, it’s a pretext the deep state will use to harass and silence anyone speaking out against the police state we increasingly resemble.
I hope everyone remains calm, God knows weasels like Merrick Garland don’t need much of an excuse to bang on your door in darkness, shackle you in your underwear and parade you around outside your house in front of CNN cameras before they lock you up.
This is also what I fear. At this point, with the Media firmly in their grasp, the Democrats can tell any lie about any Republican and it will be believed by half the country. I'm sure they are salivating at the idea of having an excuse to decree Republicans "enemies of the state."
The sad reality is that attacks on Republicans (like the baseball shooting) are always going to be dismissed as unimportant and not indicative of other Democrats, while any Republican who puts their toe over the line is going to be touted as "proof" that ALL Republicans are dangerous.
Unless the Democrats make a significant misstep that causes too much Republican rebellion for them to be able to easily put down, they are going to keep chipping away at our rights and jailing Republicans one by one.
Unlike many here, I believe in my heart of hearts that America WILL fall to the Left. With the Media, Academia, Military leaders, and all government agencies in their grasp, I don't see how it can turn out any other way.
And while I don't like talking about my religious beliefs around those who would dismiss them AND me for having done so, all my study of prophecy supports the idea that the Left will triumph at present. One thing that has always stood out to me is that ALL the nations of the world will gather against Israel. Back in the 80s, when I was in seminary, it seemed impossible that the U.S. would be one of those nations. Now it is all too evident that the U.S. could do exactly that...but only under the leadership of Leftists, who have made no secret of their hatred of Israel.
Yes, my first reaction was that this was a pure provocation. Another event similar to Jan 6, and we will have a 100% totalitarian regime, which half the country would support as justified. If this was done to incite a reaction from Trump supporters, they almost succeeded. But they also caused disgust among independents. Something else have to happen as the air is too charged. If Trump can make public the warrant, he should. Let’s not play with fire.
I'm happy to let the JustUs Department an FBI stew a while. Every day that passes without explanation only exposes their contempt for the rule of law and the realization that after six years of persecuting Trump, they are what they have accused him of being.
Call me an optimist but I think our side is winning. When Trump was president there were a lot of folks in my orbit that happily joined the MSNBC crowd and accused him of being an imperious authoritarian. Now that they've experienced Biden and real authoritarians, they've gone silent. We need to stay focused on the upcoming election. If the republicans take back the house and hopefully the senate, my hope is that real hearings and successful impeachments will soon follow.
There's no such thing as a little mayhem. If you're actually the one w/your ass on fire, dead, or life destroyed, held without bail in a J6 D.C. dungeon, perspective on power and revolution might make you think volunteering for a "get out the vote" organization might have been more worth while.
We're at SUBSTACK because the American national dialogue has been compromised and turned into psyop. Criminal totalitarian finance gutted American industry while looting and destroying the American economy. The Clinton Democratic machines capitulation to criminal finance helped create the Globalist WEF/CCP juggernaut now poised to place its manicured jackbooted little foot squarely on our necks. In our favor, the open megalomania and narcissistic hubris of the Democratic Party's D.C. political leadership and its desperate ploy to hold us in thrall to a manufactured lie may be the reveal to the house of cards coal mine canary in their tunnel of doom. WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE POWER!!
Most Americans I encounter are totally disconnected from the reality we're attempting to engage at SUBSTACK. They know something's wrong. They're watching their lives and fortunes go into free fall. They're confused and beaten numb by the cultural and political disintegration around them. But, the cause and effect forces behind it remain mysterious. It's interesting that in this new age of instant communication so many of us are starved for accurate information. The links, connections, recommendations and opinions I encounter because of SUBSTACK authors and opinion is definitely a new doorway and possibility.
"Ism's" are dead. America and the WORLD has entered a new age and we are in a WORLD WAR to see who will control it. Totalitarian criminal finance (the WEF/CCP) with the help of the Clinton Machine compromised and gained control of the revolving door pay to play D.C. hog trough. It intends to impose a feudal social credit based World totalitarian state. Our Constitutional Republic is in their way. The Democratic Party and the morally bankrupt Clinton machine NEEDS TO GO!! And, the Republican Party needs to be reorganized.---As always: Marxist "woke" is the lipstick on a pig named Totalitarian Finance.
Mike R, well stated. You understand the real power behind the Western World, the World Economic Forum, and the likely real power behind the WEF, the CCP. Unfortunately they have indoctrinated so many into believing their narrative or frightened them into passivity, that it is unlikely there is a way out for now. I do not know if there is a way to fight back given they control the communication infrastructure, all institutional levers of power, the FBI, CIA and it appears the military.
It will take incredible ingenuity to find a way to bring back decency to America. I will always believe there is a way, but we need to all be street savvy and not give them more ammunition and more bodies.
I hesitate to believe SUBSTACK will continue to support the current open dialogue here.
I love them in times of peace, but in times of totalitarian control, I am afraid the likes of David French and Bari Weiss will not defend us in the end. They are unable to reconsider that "Trump is the greatest danger to democracy." Therefore his supporters are simply not to be trusted.
Wow well written the FBI, Homeland Security etc are nothing more than scam and sham organizations. I wouldn’t trust them to guard my dog let alone my being, as for the deep state we don’t have to imagine how deep it goes we seeing first hand of how bad, it’s almost like the gov,big tech,legacy media and the corporations will stop at nothing to provoke the 74 million Americans who never voted for Brandon. It’s crazy stuff, you have to keep telling yourself this is America. Dan Bongino today on his podcast said we have to keep our cool. the deep state would love nothing more than for us to loose our heads!
Stone and Navarro are very dangerous old men. The conspired with Trump to overthrow the government. Navarro went so far as to draft a memo outlining how it could be done. They may be mental cases but they are very dangerous mental cases.
So because you view them as "dangerous" that warrants oppressive SWAT team raids on them? The only thing I see as "dangerous" is the danger of people such as you who believe in ends justifying means and massive government overreach and oppression in violation of criminal procedure and the rule of law. Both "dangerous" men were represented by counsel and would have peacefully surrendered themselves if asked. Sorry but you need some serious time considering your beliefs.
Did you read that in the Enquirer? Oh, wait, you're probably too young to understand that reference. So, I'll ask: can you provide citations for us to read the memo? And, wow. Not judgie are we? "Dangerous OLD men"? I mean, seriously, did you vote for Biden? Or Hillary? Because they are BOTH older than either Navarro or Stone and from where I sit, they've both used their positions to wield more unchecked power and abuse of our citizens than anything near what Stone or Navarro are even accused of attempting.
I urge you to read some history and find out what overthrowing a government actually looks like. There are countless examples of course, but you could start with the French Revolution or the Bolshevik Revolution, or the Cuban Revolution, etc. What you'll find is that actual overthrows of governments look nothing like the Jan. 6 clown show.
Yes, I watched it too. J6 can be described many ways, but a concerted and serious effort to overthrow the government of the United States is not one of them.
You are the perfect example of a hopeless libtard cnn junkie. You are probably one of the 8% of Americans who believe Elvis is still alive. Good luck with that; you’re going to need it.
So, when you watched 1/6 go down and saw the breakdown of it on TV or on the news you thought "nothing to see here, typical American day". I would say that you are the one who thinks Elvis is still alive and that Jesus would approve of Trump (the grandest delusion of all).
I saw people peacefully wandering into the Capitol building, welcomed by the police, and taking selfies in the hallways. There were also a few dozen violent protesters, none of them armed, and some of them quite possibly FBI plants. But do go on believing what you believe that it was the worst day in American history.
And, yes, Jesus probably would approve of the fact that Trump kept us out of foreign wars and worked hard to end the existing wars. Even if the Democrats married to the big defense corps. did not approve.
It certainly didn't seem much different from the takeover of the Wisconsin capital a few years earlier or the hectoring of Brett Kavanagh from the senate hearing room...
You did not clearly note this was satire. If that was an omission, I apologize in advance tor stating you must be one of if not the most repellent and disgusting creatures ever creatted.
It really doesn't have to be one or the other. I believe he is quite capable of both lying and not being able to manage the FBI.
Remember after the issue with the women gymnasts being sexually abused and the FBI failed to act? Wray said in an apology it would never happen again on his watch. Isn't the point of managing something making sure it NEVER happens again? That the systems prevent this from happening without regard to who heads the bureaucracy.
It is perfectly legal and constitutional to protest outside the homes of any public figure, including SCOTUS justices. So there's no one for the FBI to "stop."
That doesn't mean I believe the protests are smart---just the opposite. But protesters can do it if they want as long as they stay on public property.
"Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Really? OK. Under your interpretation, every January 6 protestor is guilty of the federal crime of picketing and parading and will need to spend time in jail, pay a fine, or both, whether they were rioting or merely chanting and protesting.
Absurd, right? I think so. Our society treats peaceful protestors very differently from those who actually interfere with an official's duties. The former is protected by 1A; the latter is subject to arrest. MAGAs who protested peacefully on January 6, not entering the Capitol and not entering the riot, were completely within their 1A right to do so. MAGAs who rioted, entered the capitol, or committed other crimes, were not, and were correctly arrested. MAGAs arrested for peaceful protest are due civil damages for illegal arrest.
Same with the protestors walking the homes of the SCOTI. If they block traffic, riot, throw rocks, use a sound truck, punch cops, or make their points through other non-peaceful means, they are subject to arrest. If they do none of that, they aren't. Using the code to arrest peaceful picketers and paraders would be blatantly unconstitutional.
Pity the poor prosecutor who tries to make the case that a woman carrying a picket sign protesting the Roe vote is a lawbreaker solely because she's standing on a public sidewalk in front of Barrett's house. He'd be laughed out of court.
Peaceful protest on public property--even outside a justice's home--is absolutely protected by 1A. If it weren't, nobody could protest any government official or action. That they can means these protestors can, too.
But hey, I'm reasonable. Arrest one of the protestors as a test case and watch even this SCOTUS overturn this part of the U.S. code on grounds it's unconstitutional. Peaceful protest of public officials is the heart and soul of 1A.
So was Roe until SCOTUS declared it unconstitutional. If the cops want to arrest a protestor who is peacefully walking the public sidewalk in front of Amy or Kav's house, fine. I'll look forward to even this SCOTUS declaring the ban an unconstitutional breach of 1A.
The First Amendment is not limitless. Interfering with the mechanisms of justice is against the law. If you try to intimidate a juror, a witness, or a judge, you have gone beyond your First Amendment rights.
Peaceful protest is not intimidation, nor is it "interfering with the mechanisms of justice." What they are doing might violate this U.S. code, but even this SCOTUS would rule that peaceful protest is Constitutionally protected.
Arrest a protestor and see what happens, I'd welcome the Roe-like overturn of this illegal statute.
Shane...good point, in that it reminds us about the 700/800 arrested for protest for jan 6th march, most never did enter any buildings, so no damage by most and they were on Public Property... i know you agree, thanks.
Yes, I do agree, Jim. Anyone who was merely there but did no damage and did not enter the building, they should not have gotten a second look by police, let alone gotten arrested. I reserve my anger for those who rioted, hurt people, or damaged our Capitol. MAGAs had every right to protest peacefully that day or any other if they did none of that.
Same with the protestors outside the justices' homes. As long as they remain peaceful and on public property, they have every Constitutional right to be there. They start throwing rocks through windows or crank up a sound machine at midnight, off to the pokey they shall go. Or should.
To be clear, I don't like the idea of protesting outside officials' homes. It only hardens officials' resolve to not "give in to the mob," and the public doesn't like it, either, which hurts the cause. But they have the Constitutional right to have their say and march their march, just like the January 6 folks did.
Thanks very much for that, T Reid, I appreciate your courtesy. I try to be consistent, and I don't require anyone to agree with me, only that they state their opposition clearly and without (too much!) rancor. I'm here precisely because I want to see viewpoints other than my own; it's the only way to learn anything.
It doesn't matter what they did or didn't accomplish. The only thing that matters is 1A protects their right to parade and picket public officials, as long as it's done peacefully.
Personally, I don't like protests in front of officials' homes; it's counterproductive. It hardens the target's vow to "not give in to the mob," and the public considers it tawdry. But they think differently, and in America, they have the right to mount even counterproductive protests.
As for "terrorizing" the neighbors, they must breed some kind of milquetoast neighbors in Georgetown.
Law enforcement agencies have prosecutorial discretion. There is no requirement to go after everyone who breaks every law. We're seeing dramatic upticks in political violence and death threats against public officials. Certain things need to take priority.
One would think the safety of Supreme Court justices would be one of those things that takes priority. Particularly after one individual was arrested with zip ties and a plan to kill Brett Kavanaugh.
The individual was arrested, i.e. the security and safety was effective. We don't know every security tactic being used because making that information public would only serve to give people a way to circumvent it. I'm sure most public figures are quite safe.
If you believe "peaceful protest = officials are in danger," then nobody including Trump supporters can ever be allowed to protest anything. That simply doesn't fly in my America.
It’s very hard to parse Pelosi’s “no one is above the law”, yet Hillary Clinton got off Scott free, Hunter Biden buys a gun even though he lied about his drug addiction (not to mention the prostitutes, not paying taxes, grifting for money either Chinese & Ukrainians) and then Pelosi’s ne’er-do-well drunk husband just walks away from prosecution. There is a 2-tiered system of Justice in this country and folks are angry about it for good reason.
I'm not a big fan of Biden and I do think there is a two tier system right now. But Biden wasn't VP in 2017 when this plan was discussed, so while it might increase concern that this type of thing was going on before then, there's no particular problem with Biden being part of such an entity after he was out of office. If it had continued in operation (it did not) when he then ran for office again there would be an issue.
And don’t forget Pelosi’s crooked little son who “escorted” her on the Taiwan debacle. THEY EVEN TOOK HIS NAME OFF THE PLANE’S PASSENGER MANIFEST! But, there’s nothing to see here folks.
Robert...least we forget, Pelosi comes into office with about $3 Million and do to her hard work ethics, while working a Government Job, has now acquired around $160 Million.
She hopes to gather Mucho, with her trip to Chip makers in Taiwan.
And don’t forget that Pelosi’s son - also under 5 different fed investigations - hopped on Nancy’s Asia trip to countries crucial to his business interests.. Pauly Jr is Hunter Part 2. US press scrubbed him from pictures and records while foreign press showed and covered it.
There were nonstop investigations of Benghazi, the FBI released info about her emails right before the election, etc. Maybe, as Gertrude Stein once said, "there's no there there."
How does the saying go? "Being blind is acceptable; being blind to your blindness is inexcusable." I'm going with "Maybe not, as Gertrude Stein once said, 'there's no there there.''"
I can't give this statement enough likes. They've made it very clear that in practice *plenty* people are *above the law* and *the law* is very capriciously applied. That is what this is all about.
Reminds me of that quote from Orwell's "Animal Farm" where the head pig proclaimed "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".
The very fact that liberals like French have to preface everything they say with that catechism undermines whatever speculative argument they're about to spout.
This French guy is just a talking head. You could have gotten virtually any of the commenters on this blog to write a similar, probably better column based on the facts and speculation we currently have.
A statement is made that no one including presidents is above the law, and then in almost the same sentence Hillary Clinton's name is mentioned. Talk about hypocrisy.
Just like they used the fraudulent Carter Page FISA warrant to spy on Trump administration comms, they’re using a specious National Archives issue to fish for documents. I tend to believe Sundance from The Conservative Treehouse who speculates that they were looking to get hold of the documents that John Radcliffe had assembled and Trump had de-classified. If released to the public, they would likely show how absolutely corrupted the FBI/DOJ has been. Keep in mind that Obama took tens of thousands of documents for his unbuilt Library, I actually think he’s running the show from his command post in DC. Remember when Psaki was press secretary and said she loves working for Obama.
Actually, Hillary Clinton, having never been President, is *more* guilty of hiding classified information among her personal effects. She didn't have the ability to declassify at a whim.
It has been said that the problem with communism is that real communism has never been tried. Well the problem with fascism is that real fascism HAS been tried. So when there aren’t gas chambers and tall black boots and a guy with a mustache, people say
“Oh don’t be silly that’s not fascism”
No. This is fascism and it has been for a long time. Certainly could be much worse, and it’s absolutely trending that direction, but this is fascism.
The federal government steals half of my money and gives it to Democrats to buy their loyalty with a myriad of benefits agencies and programs.
Every aspect of life is controlled by the federal government. The federal government which cannot be challenged or changed, in Washington DC, is 95% Democrat and 5% Bill Kristol. The media is Democrat propaganda almost entirely and they have paramilitary and military enforcement totally controlled by Democrats. Again, DC is 95% Democrat. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is fascism.
They should just indict Trump now with anything they want because if the trial is in DC it’s a guaranteed conviction. Fascism.
I think one important element is missing, and that's the fixation on a single glorified individual. I think leftists are correct that the extremes of Trump worship qualify better in that regard and only in that regard.
But otherwise, when my company has an executive "officer" to enforce the explicit values of the Democratic Party, and my child's kindergarten has the exact same values and rhetoric word for word, and we are not allowed to oppose those values or their leadership, and these value "officers" are present in every single organization in the USA and other countries, yes. This is fascism, and it's not just the USA.
Fascism is cooperation between business and government to subjugate the public. It often takes a totalitarian/authoritarian bent because otherwise who would subscribe to a system like that? So, no, you don't need one individual, but you do need a one supreme ideology that can't be questioned or it all starts to fall apart.
Politicians are getting insanely rich while in office and it's not all coming from front-running the stock market. I wonder how much Bush and Cheney got from the Iraq invasion and rebuilding, or how much Bush got from the bank bailouts which Obama continued when he took office. How many politicians have family members running businesses that benefit from government funding. Government, banks and business aren't just cooperating, they're becoming one entity.
"They're becoming one entity," which is fascism. I know you understand, but many don't, that fascism isn't hatred, bigotry, totalitarianism, or authoritarianism. It isn't when some leader criticizes the media or politically unpopular opinions. It's exactly what you described, when all those things become so intermingled as to be indistinguishable from one another and the population is managed for be benefit of that resulting organism. The danger is not recognizing fascism when you see it simply because it's not taking the face the evening news tells you it's supposed to.
Well yeah but now we are getting into a sort of “what is the technical definition of a recession” discussion. Charismatic leader is the least important aspect in my opinion. I think the willingness to turn a decrepit corrupt feckless parasite like Joe Biden into the glorious leader uniter and soul healer is scarier.
Regardless, it’s totalizing top down authority. If Republicans win the House and Senate and the White House it will be useful to watch how they simply can’t do anything. They can’t even revoke the pensions or law licenses of the people in the actual permanent government who committed crimes. Fascism.
Best fun fact that I heard surrounding the additional IRS shock troops they are hiring to rape your family and the future of your children is that current IRS folks, unionized of course, donate 97% Democrat. This is fascism. There are much worse versions obviously. It is still fascism.
“He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”
Fascism.
(the government steals half of my money and I would literally rather be raped once per year if I was allowed to stipulate a few minor things)
The Declaration of Independence written by *actual* conservatives who absolutely would have wanted this government to be crushed. They were conserving liberty. Today’s ‘conservatives’, like the author, are focused on conserving the existing labyrinth of illegitimately erected fascist agencies.
Yes Democrats are fascists. They want (have) top down centralized control of society. Your list of vague bullshit is what the fascists use to exploit emotionally-driven simpletons.
“We oppose the rich corporate billionaire merchant Jews…..I mean millionaires. Give us power ve vill control zem for ze fair share!!”
“You must give us power to show your love for immigrants and the environment and the LGBT workers we will protect you with the government which must increase!!!”
It’s persuasive if you’re a moron and appealing if you’re a sack of shit.
Of course it’s the responsibility of the US taxpayer to support endless war in Ukraine! If you don’t agree you’re a fascist neo nazi. No, not like the Azov Brigade, that’s (D)ifferent.
Liked: "95% Democrat and 5% Bill Kristol." This math adds up perfectly. Unfortunately, the "Bill Kristol" crowd isn't going away anytime soon, especially with Donald J. Trump in the White House on the horizon once again.
Every time I read or hear that statement I feel like Sally after realizing Linus was an idiot believer in the great pumpkin and she was an idiot to go along with it. 🎃
I suppose another ad hominem is appropriate as in, "Thank you, person who may or may not be a patriot."? You'd have to be blind to your blindness if you can't come up with numerous examples of the two-tiered system of justice here in America. Just look at the roles of incarcerated individuals charged with misdemeanors languishing in DC jails. Humdreds of examples there, PatriotD.
This whole kerfuffle about the potential of classified documents At Trump's Mar-a-Lago home reminds me of the orange orangutan debating crooked Hillary at a presidential debate to become the 45th president of the United States. Donnie said: “So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment, like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” And at one of his rallies, he told his cult followers: “When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth, so they’re not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful,” so in typical Trump style, what did he do this week he took the Fifth Amendment over 400 times, in this instant, apparently Donald, believes what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.
I find it ironic that sometimes there is poetic justice; Donnie boy was hoisted with his own petard; in January 2018, he signed: 18 U.S. Code § 1924 - Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. This legislation said in part: knowingly removing such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. He made something that was a misdemeanor, into a felony, because of what Hillary did; this brings a whole new meaning to “lock her up.”
All those hyperventilation about a group of FBI agents enforcing the law, compared to January 6: where people broke windows to let in over 2000 people to defile the seat of our great democracy!
(1) "Donnie" admitted that he now understands why people take the fifth.
(2) Do you know how many states still have "sodomy" laws on the books? They're never enforced. If someone were to start enforcing them, people would not look askance at the person they arrested but at the people doing the arresting because they would see it for what it was: persecution, not justice or equal application of the law. There is a long list of people who have flagrantly ignored the code you just cited and not one of them was subject to an FBI raid. So, yes, the law is on the books, but it's never enforced, so why are they enforcing it now other than to persecute one person or group of people? They didn't just suddenly "find Jesus."
(1) Awfully convenient of Trump to "admit" that just now, isn't it?
(2) Since you don't know what is in the search warrant--neither do I; nobody does; the contents are not yet public--how can you believably call the search of Mar-a-Logo "persecution"?
(3) The good news for you, me, and everyone else is Merrick Garland tonight announced that he will unseal the warrants and supporting documents so the public can see what the FBI was looking for--and will do that tomorrow unless Donald Trump objects to those documents being made public.
(1) You've never learned something from experience and come to appreciate the other side's point? (No, I've dealt with you before. Dumb question. Forget I asked.)
(2) Because unless it's a dead body in a box, no one goes searching previous administration's houses, and if it was a dead body in a box, I think we would have heard. So it's persecution.
(3) The warrant is pretty meaningless as is the property list. Unless they unseal the affidavit showing what "evidence" Garland had and what law he was citing, we know nothing, and he made no commitment to do that. He expects everyone to take it on faith that a partisan FBI got a partisan judge to sign off on the information so that was good enough. It's meaningless unless we can read the affidavit, unredacted and in full. Forgive me if with my knowledge of the history of the DOJ and FBI, particularly of the last six years, I find the idea of trusting them to be honest and forthright laughable.
(1) I have, in fact, changed my views on several issues, thanks to people on this site making cogent and intelligent arguments. Cogent and intelligent do not include you, since you decided to make it personal.
(2) Presidents' homes are off-limits to law enforcement unless murder is involved? Good to know your standard. So how would Attorney General Gajewski have retrieved the classified material at Mar-a-Lago? Trump was asked to return the documents and didn't; he was subpoenaed to return them and didn't. Would you have asked "pretty please with sugar on top, Mr. President?" Or would you have sent FBI agents to pick them up?
You would have done what Garland did.
(3) The warrant and inventory of evidence seized at Mar-a-Lago are meaningless? That's the silliest thing I've heard all day, but then again, the day is young. What you're fishing for are the names of FBI informants, if any exist. Not only is that not going to happen--law enforcement protects informant identities for a reason--but it's not necessary. People care only about what the documents are, not who alerted the government about their location.
(1) You remember. I dealt with you before and I know this isn't really a conversation. You've been going up and down this board repeating media talking points without any serious consideration as to their validity.
(2) Just because I'm not an attorney general doesn't mean I can't comprehend. But he could have subpoenaed the material. That is usually the first step. You generally don't rush right into busting into a person's home. Chris Bray had an excellent article today on the tendency to hide behind "expertise": https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/the-maneuver?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
(3) The warrant just states in general where they're allowed to search. As they "searched" everywhere, it has to be by default quite vague and therefore meaningless. The list of what they took could simply say X number of boxes with documents. They seemed quite indiscriminate in what they took. That's not that informative. The affidavit, on the other hand, says what evidence they think they had to justify the warrant and what laws they are using as justification.
And thank you for jumping to conclusions, because now I have another question I hadn't even considered: since when do we have FBI "informants" in ex-presidents' homes? If the FBI is infiltrating presidents' homes, we've got a problem. The FBI has a long and fabled history of being weaponized, so you're basically making the argument that many others are making: maybe it's time to reform or break up the FBI.
Shane, I find it entertaining that our Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland has essentially called Trump’s bluff, and now we’ll see if Trump tries to stop him from unsealing the warrant, any bets?
Lillia, I’ll see your Fox News, and raise you a MSNBC news, I’m certain, you don’t think MSNBC news is credible, but that is not relevant, what’s relevant here, is law, and Donnie’s ego. His hubris may have done them in, and if he goes to trial, it will surely be a circus!
Lillia, you say: "There is a long list of people who have flagrantly ignored the code you just cited and not one of them was subject to an FBI raid. So, yes, the law is on the books, but it's never enforced, so why are they enforcing it now other than to persecute one person or group of people? They didn't just suddenly "find Jesus." I’m pretty sure Jesus would’ve told you that you better load your brain before you shoot your mouth off. Below you will find some examples of the law being enforced:
Okay, show me one example of someone whose house was raided who was a former president or part of their administration who was illegally holding "classified" information or information the NARA wanted. I can give you two examples of people who weren't: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Now show me someone of their rank who was prosecuted. I'll wait.
And stop with phrases like "shoot off your mouth." We can have a civil conversation or you can show how unintelligent you are before we even start with that kind of low-IQ trash talk.
Lillia, talk about moving the goalpost; you just drove it off the continent! And I’ve been called a whole lot worse than an old-fashioned colloquialism that some would say is civil, but maybe I’m not as sensitive as you.
Stop deflecting. Answer my question. What former president or member of a former administration had their house raided using that code as justification, regardless of the fact that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama violated it?
Lynn, you sound like a liberal arts college student; you’re trying to ostracize and silence me. Apparently, you think I’m not politically correct. Are you trying to make this Substack a safe space where a dissenting voice and intellectual diversity are not welcomed? And here I thought this was the place that loved free speech, where ideas need to be challenged.
Well Lillia, it may be true that arcane laws are rarely enforced but that is a strawman argument. And it appears that Trump did indeed sign into law the very offense which is putatively (not positively) the basis for probable cause. Maybe that is why the Trump team is not releasing the suspected offense (which they have access to on the face of the warrant).
He did not "sign into law the very offense." Trump signed into law an amendment that increased the penalties but the law was on the books already and *no one* at that level of government had ever been charged under it. Tell me again what your point was.
As far as I've been able to read, they were shown the warrant but they were not given a physical copy. Unless you can show me otherwise . . .
The Democrats and the LEFT have totally EXHAUSTED the country since 2015 - first with the Russia Hoax, the two faux impeachments, etc, etc....we are EXHAUSTED and I am sure Trump is as well of the riotous & unreasonable behavior of the Democrats and their pals in the DEEP STATE & media - We should all plead the 5th and tell them to go to HXLL.
Yes. As I have opined here before, Trump represented, and may still represent, a threat to our constitutional order, but the unhinged reaction to him from the Democrats, the media, academe, the intelligence agencies, and the tech oligopolists represents a more serious threat.
Bam! I did not know that Trump signed 18 U.S.C. 1924 into law (allegedly to get HRC, but who knows). If that is what the alleged violation is that supported probable cause for the search warrant, then as much as I hate weaponizing the law for political aims, that would just be the definition of poetic justice. Both sides speak with forked tongues. Those who are upset about this because it was done to Trump or hyperventilating on the hypocrisy of it all (while there is that) are missing the bigger picture. (Hint: it is not a great democracy)
Yes, he did. Which proves he knew the law existed, that it existed for a reason, and that he agreed with that reason so much that he pumped up the penalties for violating it.
It's only poetic that he might be the first recipient of his own tough-guyism.
Well, he himself didn't do it. That's not how legislation works, and Trump wasn't king, no matter how much you like to pretend he was. It was something Congress voted on and passed, and since it had to do with changing laws, it had to have at least 60 votes in the Senate, which means at least a few Democrats approved it as well.
And considering it was always on the books and no other person in the upper echelons of government, such as Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, who very flagrantly flaunted that law was charged with even a misdemeanor much less had people going through their underwear drawers, I'd say you're still stretching and have missed the point.
Memento, Rep. Michael O. Myers tells you how democracy works: "I'm gonna tell you somethin' real simple and short. Money talks in this business and bullshit walks. And it works the same way down in Washington." And this was before Citizens United!
Re: two-tiered system of justice. Back in the 70s, I had a good friend who was an impecunious singer/songwriter. When Ford issued his incredibly broad blanket pardon of Richard Nixon, my friend professed optimism saying "This is great. Now if I get busted for pot I can just say 'Instead of sending me to jail, I'll just quit being a folk singer and that should be punishment enough.'" Two-tiered system? At least.
I remember the pardon. Moderates such as my parents grudgingly admitted that it was a good way to put Watergate behind us and let the nation heal. We were already trying to heal from Vietnam; lots of healing to do back then.
I was going to say the same thing. But there are laws and other laws. Nancy Pelosi can walk into the capital and the House as needed, I can't and it is trite to assume otherwise.
French and the rest act like the traditional guard rails that defined the rules of US politics still exist. After using fabricated evidence to spy on the Trump campaign and then illegal leak the info to sabotage an elected president, why precisely should we trust the current powers that be.
I totally agree. Unfortunately the DOJ has so little credibility that they are barely above the faith in Congress.
To be clear I liked many of Trump's policies but didn't really care for the individual. Too big of an ego. But look now, we have a marshmallow.
What is missing is why after the Russian investigation that was nothing and the ineffective Jan 6 clown show that produces nothing useful, why the raid?
He has been investigated probably more than any American has ever been.
All the corrupt and political controlled DOJ does is raise more concerns about the deep state. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Yet they wonder why the distrust and conspiracy theories? The leadership is bankrupt of morals and interests other than self interest.
We don't need the current or past administrations again in 2024. How about some younger so called talent and some real interest in making the average person's life and the country better? Trouble is that money talks and controls the political parties.
The first President I voted for was Jimmy Carter, whose calling card was as a DC outsider who could clean up and toss out the garbage. Look what happened to him (I remember the Boston Globe headline, "More Mush From The Wimp", after his declaration of inflation as the moral equivalent of war).
Reagan? An outsider who took on DC and the existing world order. Toppled the USSR, but look at what the DC elites constantly tried to do to him.
Bush 1 was an insider, but primarily elected as Reagan's third term.
Clinton? The ultimate insider who fooled everybody into thinking he was a DC outsider. I really had the most hope for the Rhodes scholar/governor - did a lot but Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman and wound up exposed as a typical member of The Mendacious Order. Very sad.
Bush 2? No idea what happened there.
Obama? The first Black outsider.
Trump? "Ultimate Outsider"
Sorry to ramble but my point is - almost every single president in the last 42 years has been elected as a DC outsider with a mandate to clean up and toss the garbage, and the establishment (including and abetted by the Media) have resisted with every fiber of its being.
The Establishment is too busy trying to be our leader rather than our representative.
What if the whole point of the raid was to create a stronger bond between Trump and voters? That sounds crazy, but all the news lately has been how the democrats want Trump to be the nominee because he’d be so easy to defeat. If voters feel he’s being abused, then they are more likely to vote for him instead of, say, DeSantis. As an added bonus, the raid pumped up all the foaming resistance, which is good for democratic turnout in this current election.
I’d have to believe that the DOJ and FBI were completely political arms of the party in that situation. It isn’t hard to come to that conclusion.
I agree with you. We need to vote younger people into leadership.
Pat, I had the same thought but don't want to believe it. Would have written it off as a nutter theory as recently as 2018. Now I'm not so sure.
The way I see it, there are only 3 possibilities for Merrick Garland here:
1) The DOJ is such an ideological echo chamber that Garland honestly didn't know how a raid on the former President, current party kingmaker, and likely future candidate would be perceived by at least 30% of the country.
2) Garland knew but didn't give a hoot, since Trump is Hitler.
3) The Dems think Trump is the best candidate to run against and Garland made a large public raid specifically to rally the GOP back to Trump and away from DeSantis.
Attributed to the DOJ and FBI, I'm not sure which quality would scare me least: incompetence, blind hatred, or political calculation.
I don’t think it’s 2 or 3. That’s a long game play and the urgency of now says it has to be something that will affect this election, in three months. So, they are trying to incite an event that will discredit republicans and make it harder for voters to vote for the Republican Party this election. They would want Trump, in that case, to say something that they can use to say he caused it, whatever it is they have planned, already.
You can already see the narrative forming. All the pundits are saying the FBI and DOJ are being threatened, as if there was no predicate for the anger on the right.
Wow. you're even further down the rabbit hole than I am. :-) And the scary thing is that it doesn't sound crazy. Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but I'm sticking my head in the sand and going for incompetence. It's the least scary of the options, and let's face it, incompetence in government bureaucracies is par for the course.
3 could be true if they know for sure Biden isn't going to run again. I don't believe for a second the Justice Dept. would not run this by the President first. He probably isn't going to run again or he would have stopped this in my opinion.
This is very possible, but I'd be amazed if they were so stupid as to try this again. The Clinton campaign did the same exact thing - elevated Trump above his Republican primary opponents in 2016, thinking he'd be more easily defeated in a general election - and it backfired enormously. Of course, they're already doing pretty much the same gambit in other elections right now.
Sorry. I couldn’t get the link to work. I only got a blank page. I use Bravo.
Let’s take a step back. Does this have more to do with the current election than a future election? Why would they want to rile up republicans? Do they already have something like a Witmer plot arranged?
All I know is no one will dissuade me from voting in November. No matter what happens to Trump, I will vote. It’s the only voice I have. We have to get a Republican Congress first, then a Republican President and he has to be willing to fire everyone on day one.
Trump wavered. That’s on him. He didn’t use the power of his office and didn’t realize the trap his ego rally was. He worked in the swamp for four years and didn’t guess that they would plot to use his rally against him? He was blind. I’d never vote for him again. Though he makes a nice foil for DeSantis to prepare for 2024 without 100% of the negativity focused on him. That’s all Trump is good for right now, for me.
No worries. I think its probably Bravo. What the F.B.I. just did requires extraordinary institutional trust and yet they have zero credibility among the vast majority of independents and Republicans. Either the raid is pre-textual and they have something like the Whitmer plot cooked up, or they just made yet another all-time terrible political moves.
I guess we will have to wait for the trial to see it on display. I hate even thinking that. I’ve become so jaded over the last several years. It’s a shame.
On Megyn Kelly's podcast interview with Glenn Beck the other day, in the first five minutes she listed TWO DOZEN lawsuits or investigations against Trump or the Trump Organization. It's insane.
Sandy Berger was a national security advisor to the immoral Bill Clinton and John Kerry, stole classified documents from the National Archives and destroyed the documents. He plead guilty, didn't spend a day in jail and got a slap on the wrist fine.
Hillary Clinton was never charged for mishandling classified documents and never served a day in jail.
In the early 1980s I had a secret security clearance. If I had done a tenth of what Berger and Hillary did, I would still be in prison.
Oh, one more thing. You can bet your bottom dollar, all of us who participate on this BBS are in a government archive and they are keeping their eye on us. If the communist woke fanatics keep winning elections, we will be in deep trouble.
Fanatics don't tolerate any dissent and it is never good for those who do, think Chinese prisons/death camps for dissenters.
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you.
I would have agreed 100% with David French on this... in 2016. Then I watched the FBI and the DOJ engage in a 4 year conspiracy to undermine first the opposing candidate and then the duly elected President of the United States. This is not conjecture. FBI attorneys have pled guilty to falsifying FISA court applications. The FBI has acknowledged in Congressional testimony that they knew Russiagate was a red herring almost before Trump was inaugurated but pushed it anyway. Trump said they were out to destroy him, and all evidence is that (at least on that one issue) he was correct.
If your opponent is "wrong", you will seek to educate and convince him. But if your opponent isn't just wrong but is evil, evil cannot be convinced and must be destroyed. So how can institutions controlled by people who have demonstrated in both word and deed that they truly believe Trump (and all his voters) to be evil, possibly be trusted to deal fairly with him? Or with us? Any of us? Because once you've demolished the guardrails to fight evil once... (Sir Thomas More's injunction about the laws of Britain comes to mind.)
You don't have to believe Donald Trump rantings to believe this to be a political hit job.
I would add, their beliefs are that they are saving the planet and ending oppression, which also provides great justification to crushing people you oppose.
I posted this above but worth repeating based on your comment:
On Megyn Kelly's podcast interview with Glenn Beck the other day, in the first five minutes she listed TWO DOZEN lawsuits or investigations against Trump or the Trump Organization. It's insane.
Those may be technically legitimate, in the sense that Donald Trump may well have run corrupt businesses (kickbacks, union busting, tax dodging, bribery, etc...). He's a NYC real estate developer... that by itself implies a certain amount of corruption..
I agree with you the investigations wouldn't be going on if he wasn't an ex-President though.
It's everything from his niece who is suing him for supposedly cutting her out of an inheritance to tenants suing over rent increases because of new appliances being installed to a sexual harassment suit to needing to present his tax returns to two impeachment proceedings (which we know how they ended) to Eric Swalwell suing him over J6 to protesters in front of Trump tower suing him because they believe his security manhandled them or some such thing to the Georgia Election board and on and on and on and on.
Yes, as an NYC real estate mogul, he's always lawsuit prone, but much of this is utter nonsense.
I’m gonna write a comment that is sure to disappoint. I’m not even going to have any information or valid point. But I’m going to write it anyway and do so in a make a statement, ask a question format.
Let’s not forget, this the second warrant the FBI has garnered against Trump. The first, although not as dramatic as gun boats in the harbor and lights flashing out front, was a FISA warrant allowing “Spygate” to happen. In investigating that warrant there was a very solid paper trail of emails showing that NONE of the affidavits supporting the warrant were true and the personnel who executed those affidavits knew the basis for seeking the FISA warrant was falsely based on information contained in a dossier paid for and written by the Democrat party. Why then, are those FBI and DOJ employees above the law? Is the law suddenly above the law? Well, obviously no. There are bad cops in jail across America. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that if you are a Donald Trump hater in Washington, DC it appears you are above the law. What are you working so hard to keep hidden?
I would like Mr. French to explain how the FBI planting news stories and then using them to wiretap enemies is something people should be cool headed about.
Great comment--it's the essential perspective. We're in a frog in the pot stage in the process of losing our civil liberties. The water is heating up gradually and we're in danger of not noticing we're about to be boiled alive. Your reminder of the first time the Deep State and the Democrat Party went after Trump is vital reminder of a 2016--when the water was lukewarm. Now it's getting painful to the touch. We need to jump out of the pot now or we're done like dinner, as the Australians say.
As a subscriber, I don’t think David French is a good addition to your pool of contributors. He’s one of those Beltway insiders who has been around forever and, in my eyes, has very little credibility. This article is not the fresh, insightful commentary I have come to expect from “Common Sense.”
I subscribe and have from the beginning to CS but I have always been just a bit wary of her claims to be a free speech advocate > Her efforts while at Columbia to get Muslim professor's fired for what she perceived as anti-semetic speech can be found at the the Glenn Greewalds article at the Intercept May 2018 . I read all of the writers featured on CS although I do wonder if free speech is awarded only to those who are on Bari's Rolodex.
I don’t agree, per se. I think that this French piece, while setting in to his typical brush off of abuses by Hillary, et al it’s still good for us to read and see more than just our own right wing pundits’ yells.
The thing is though, that I can predict with 90% reliability what any article by French will say.
What I’m irritated by is that the beautiful mature advice for us all to “keep our heads” always emerges when some gestapo action is taken by the Left (Dems, Press, take your pick) or city burning , border invite for human trafficking and fentanyl, etc it’s just fine and in fact ignored. But let ANY reaction on the Right , say some parents objecting to their children being secretly doped up for gender change or indoctrinated to destroy their childhood and our reaction is regarded as just cause for the FBI to lock us up. And French will write us a dissertation on why we miss an important justification for the Dem’s objective.
Hillary must be cackling drunk right now. And if Hunter is cognizant, he’ll just grin as he gets on the Big Guy’s AF1 and go do another deal with China while the media practices “hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil”.
"I want to start with a warning. This is going to be a thoroughly unsatisfactory newsletter. I’m going to talk about the FBI search of Trump documents at Mar-a-Lago, and I’m not going to have any answers at all. I’m barely going to speculate. But I’ve seen enough sheer nonsense online that I think it’s necessary to weigh in with a few thoughts to make sense of what occurred and what happened next."
"Hi, I’m Steven, and I’ll be your server tonight. I want to start with a warning. This is going to be a thoroughly unsatisfactory meal. I’m not going to serve you any meat, fish, or vegetables. I’m barely going to feed you at all. But I’ve seen enough sheer nonsense at other restaurants that I think it’s necessary to weigh in with a few thoughts.”
Understood all of it including the caveat at the beginning. There is no point in sharing such sloppy thinking unless it is an example of just that. The caveat should have read "This is really stupid but is intended as an example of really stupid."
I think it shows that no one is really in charge in Washington. Biden is fading fast, but Jill won’t let him pass the ball to Kamala. Everyone is going their own way, including some virulent Trump haters in the Justice Department.
If I were Xi, I would invade Taiwan, like, yesterday. There’s no one at home in DC.
Right. Incredibly, as of this morning, both Biden and Garland are denying knowledge of the raid. What is worse, having the AG and President not know about an action by their government that was a top of the fold headline in every media outlet in the world, or having their underlings go rogue and not bother to inform the higher ups? Either way, this is an "Afghanistan" level fuck up by Biden, again.
If Garland is telling the truth (a big IF) then he should be impeached for incompetence. How does this warrant request not make it to the FBI Director's and AG's desks? And approval for the raid?
I'm not a fan of French (GOP version of TDS) but his article usefully lays out what's known (too little) and what's speculation (too much). When he gets past that, tho ...
Unlike a lot of you, I truly appreciate BW's guts in presenting more nuanced views of current events, coming from all directions. However, I'd really appreciate a libertarian take on this and the 87K new IRS agents!
Please don’t lump me in your a lot of you group. French is a neocon forever, but I have no complaints with him as a CS contributor. The 87K armed IRS agents is the scariest news of the year. I predict many of them will engage in activities that future Presidents will maintain plausible deniability. Liberal Democrats have again added to the leviathan.
Once again it's media alarmist nonsense. There are not going to be 87K armed IRS agents. Most of the new agents will be the same as the current ones--auditing tax returns, (hopefully) improving the system enough so we can finally track our returns online, etc. It's 2022 and the IRS still does most of its work on paper--even when people file electronically. It's an agency that desperately needs to be improved and modernized.
At most the armed agents will be the ones who have to go into dangerous situations and seize property.
If one is armed that is too many. There are already too many armed agents throughout the government. They often protect the government from the people not vice versa. We need monkey pox more than another 87,000 bean counters.
So true! Current events are so unprecedented they beggar the imagination--never a good thing in the life of a country. It often signals a late stage in the life of the country . . . read memoirs of Europeans and Eastern Europeans from the 20s and 30s
China, Iran, Russia, and all of America's enemies, have a time sensitive (expiring) opportunity to make hay, as long as the current administration is in power. They will probably act sooner rather than later, and the US has already used up much of its dry powder to respond.
She’s the ardent supporter of her own stock options, and her son’s business interests in lithium. Nice of her to take him along on her official trip to Taiwan, a major manufacturer of lithium batteries.
Unfortunately, people have famously short memories, especially about things like this. It would have been better if the FBI had done the raid even closer to the midterms, but we take what we can get. Bush I’s war in Iraq made him a very popular star, but that was over a year before the ‘92 election. That gave him plenty time to break with his “read my lips” pledge not to raise taxes. Enter Bubba.
At least we’re less than 90 days from midterms. Hopefully the news cycle won’t suddenly shout, “squirrel!” to distract voters from this past Monday.
This is, I think, the only reason they haven't had Trump assassinated. They need him as their scapegoat. He is the only target big enough to keep everyone who votes Blue on the same page.
Yes. Matt Taibbi did a piece a few days ago whose basic point was that the left media seem to be doing everything they can to make Trump the GOP nominee. It's not impossible that this is the Deep State's contribution to that cause.
This is a wheels within wheels sort of thing. Do the dems want Trump to be the next GOP candidate or not? To answer that, you'd have to know what they thought of his chances.
But against whom? Will they even consider letting Biden run again? If it were a matchup between the two, would there be a replay of 2020? And if not Biden, then who? Michelle? Kamala? Gruesome? Hillary yet again, for Pete's sake?? Lots and lots of moving pieces here.
The hatred of Trump by the deep state is so great I'm not sure they can be rational enough to plan this out. McConnell and Pelosi, on the other hand...
Good summary of where we are at this point, but one big thing that you didn't address is the insistence by the FBI that Trump's lawyers be kept from observing the search, and also the reported demand that security cameras be turned off (which I believe the employees at MAL refused to do). That seems highly unusual, and even more so in a case with such political volatility. I would think, if you're taking the unprecedented step of raiding a former President, that you would want to make sure you do everything by the book. But expelling the attorneys on hand and trying to shut off cameras sure makes it seem like something fishy is going on. Why on earth would you do that, and risk the inevitable firestorm and accusations of potentially planting "evidence", if everything is above-board? The FBI has lost all institutional trust they may have once had, and they certainly don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.
As for your last paragraph, urging people to "keep their heads about them", I think that is going to fall flat with a lot of people (it certainly does with me). This is an organization that has demonstrated again and again over the last six (or sixty) years that they are political police that operate at the discretion of the Democrat party. This is truly a Rubicon moment, and Caesar is marching on Rome. Would you tell Cato the Younger to "stay calm, just see how this plays out" when legions arrive at Rome's doorstep? No, that would be foolish, because we aren't waiting for the FBI to reveal whether or not they are political actors. They already revealed that in 2016.
To be clear: the burden is NOT on the American people to remain calm and level-headed when confronted with a desperate, brazen power grab. The burden is on the DOJ/FBI to prove to the people that this isn't what it so clearly seems to be. The federal government writ large seems to have forgotten that it exists to serve the people of this country, not the other way around. We have reached a crisis in the United States of America, and I see no way forward for this great country unless and until the entrenched bureaucracy is cast out on their ass. We can do it with schedule F in two years, or with a guillotine in 10. It's up to them.
The FBI has failed to apprehend literally dozens of major criminals about whom it had advance warning: the Orlando shooter, the Parkville shooter, the Boston Marathon bombers, and many others... In some cases they even had arrested the future shooter then let him go (Orlando, for example). Any ordinary citizen could have done a better job than the FBI did.
They are an incompetent organization, only good at theatrical shows like busting down an old man's door at 6am and duck-walking him in shackles to jail after frisking his wife in her nightgown. This, they're very good at. They are very good at "sending a message": don't mess with us or you'll be next.
But actual, dangerous criminals? Very poor record these last 20-30 years. The old FBI that took down major mobsters back in the day is long gone. In my opinion, the FBI should be shut down as a dangerous, extra-legal armed organization that is a threat to innocent Americans.
Brilliant summary--I would only quibble with the word "seems"--otherwise a fine statement of the peril to our Constitutional liberties as American citizens if we remain passive: "To be clear: the burden is NOT on the American people to remain calm and level-headed when confronted with a desperate, brazen power grab. The burden is on the DOJ/FBI to prove to the people that this isn't what it so clearly seems to be. The federal government writ large seems to have forgotten that it exists to serve the people of this country, not the other way around. We have reached a crisis in the United States of America, and I see no way forward for this great country unless and until the entrenched bureaucracy is cast out on their ass. We can do it with schedule F in two years, or with a guillotine in 10. It's up to them."
My father used say that he worked for the government from January to June, after which he was allowed to take home his earnings for his family, the rest being taxed away.
My understanding is that it’s a possible executive order that would reclassify a large number of executive branch bureaucrats to make them at-will employees, so that they could be fired. I believe currently they can only be fired for cause.
I never believed Trump’s conspiracy theories: fake news, deep state etc. I’ve been proven wrong on every theory. Given the Russia collusion fiasco, the FBI needs a higher and more transparent public standard because they have proven to be corrupt.
This insider piece rationalizes what happened earlier in the week without taking into account the Publix’s growing mistrust of government agencies.
An FBI which had had no blemishes over the past few years maybe could do this and be owed our trust. Not this FBI or this DOJ. Nobody is above the law etc, etc, etc... Trump imo is clearly a guy who has done something at some point worthy of jail time. But nobody has the trust anymore to investigate him. It would be better for us all of Biden pardoned him of any past crimes and moved on to beating him politically.
What "clearly" has Trump done to deserve jail time? Be specific. And don't forget to contrast what he's done with what every other President has done, and explain why Trump, of all of them, deserves jail time.
Joe Biden is also clearly a guy who is guilty imo. Probably more so than Trump with worse crimes. This goes back to my point of not this DOJ and not this FBI. It’s not evenly applied and it’s clearly targeting one side.
That being said Trump is no angel. I voted for him twice but I’m not going to pretend to be blind.
Just repeating liberal talking points with no factual basis does nothing to move me. I'm waiting for actual crimes. Saying "Biden had worse crimes" makes it sound as if you are aware of crimes Trump has committed, but let's talk about Biden now because you are unable to mention Trump's alleged wrongdoings. Sorry, I don't let people off the hook that easily. Trump has committed no crimes, period. Biden the senator sexually assaulted an aide and got away, scot-free. Biden transported his son on official government aircraft to places like China and Ukraine, where his son engaged in dirty business dealings such as influence peddling, and, so far, has gotten away scot-free. Those are crimes. Can you imagine if one of Trump's children had done same? They'd long since be in prison, Trump and his children both.
Lorn...surely, while being the Badge Man for 500 businesses, somebody GOTS to find Fault...come to think, you could have the answer as to why people have such problems.
That is the Deep State's secret to success. They engage in such absurd plots and machinations that, to even suggest such things out loud, reek of "conspiracy theory". That is, until you take a step backward and gain some perspective and realize that's exactly what they've been doing -- and getting away with. They will destroy anyone who gets in their way, Trump being their most vocal and influential foe.
All you have to do is quickly peruse David French's twitter account to confirm his "never Trumper" bias. He's not the type of writer I subscribe to read in Common Sense.
wadr, the problem with today's 'journalism' is that's it's nothing more than an RNC or DNC infomercial. Nobody get's exposed to both sides of issues anymore. I appreciate Bari having a variety of sources even if I read them and think the position that the author takes is assholic.
There is such a thing as piercing, insightful analysis and commentary. However, French and some of these other left wingers she's been bringing in are intellectual lightweights, a waste of time in my opinion.
I wasn't a big fan of Kelly Ann Conway but grew immensely in my respect/regard for her after listening to her interview on Megyn Kelly's podcast. She talked about George walking off the cliff (my phrasing) on this hatred for Trump and being totally blindsided by it. It continues to this day. It's worth a listen. Episode 330.
This article by French belongs in the NYT or Wash Post. Bari please don't foist David French on us. The armed visit by an American Gestapo to investigate a former President on not preserving government documents but really on a fishing expedition for a smoking gun related to January 6th is something I would expect from El Salvador. Bananas anyone??
I suspect even the NYT and WaPo wouldn't accept this drivel for publication. Well, maybe the WaPo would. They publish pretty much any garbage these days.
It's a shame that despite Bari's efforts to show all points of view, she must default again and again to the Never Trump Republicans. Why not get someone to write something that lives outside of that insulated bubble? I get that you don't want to be accused of being a Trump supporter but in this case, you folks are neutral voices where we need stronger ones.
Ten points:
1) They have been chasing Trump for six long years, all to undo the results of the 2016 election, and in so doing, have revealed themselves to be hypocrites of the highest order. This Trump hunt makes the Bill Clinton hunt look like child's play.
2) The response to what is happening now is fear, disgust, anger from those who are not inside the isolated bunker of the left. Those inside just want the monster taken out of Purity Village. They don't care how it's done. They just want him gone. The Joy Behars, the Rob Reiners, the Stephen Colberts, the super powerful blue-checks on Twitter whose nonstop attacks have only made Trump more popular. So now they turn into the Gestapo and all of you ruminate with the same pointless questions, parroting the same old useless trope, "no one is above the law." No one deserves this level of persecution for the crime of winning an election as an outsider.
3) They've launched a systematic dehumanization campaign against Trump and his supporters for years which, frankly, is something all of us should object to. The worst crimes in history have come when one powerful side dehumanizes another powerless side. It started with mocking Trump's hair, his weight, his hands, his relationship with his wife and his daughter. There was no bottom. Then, because they could not destroy him that way, they impeached him, investigated him, cherry picked everything he said and blew it up into something he never said. They have revealed their motives again and again. How can anyone take this MADNESS seriously by now?
4) When standard humiliation and "he's a racist" didn't work, it then escalated to a "white supremacist army angry at the black and brown people in power." Many of you genuinely believe that, even though Trump continues to attract Hispanic, Asian and Black voters. You also can't seem to notice that the mass hysteria we're living through right now that is driving so much of "cancel culture" madness is because of the insanity rising on the Left, much of it in response to Trump. So the constant hysteria driven by the Left is the very same thing destroying them. The media now is driving yet more fear of Trump supporters. Don't you all see where this is going?
5) Working class Americans look to Trump because he is the only person in power who sees them at all, let alone fights for them. That clearly pisses off the Democrats since they've all but abandoned the working class. But they can't let go of their power. They won't be satisfied -- Rachel Maddow won't be satisfied -- until Trump is frog-marched off in an orange jumpsuit. THAT is what has become of the once mighty left. They have nothing to sell but fear.
6) Trump supporters are mostly non-violent. But now, thanks to Jan 6th our government (and the Never Trumpers like you all) has become emboldened, Reichstag Fire-like, to take action against its own citizens. Parents at school boards, mistreatment of the Jan. 6th prisoners, Trump's lawyers and other staff - and now Trump himself. It is WRONG. Stop saying "no American is above the law" when plenty of the most powerful absolutely are. Political persecution of this magnitude is UNAMERICAN. Go ahead and say it outright. Stop dancing around what is obvious to everyone but those inside their protected cocoon.
7) They banned Trump from Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. They disinvite him from all official government events, treating him and his millions of supporters, like they are not part of this country. How do you all think that plays among the millions who have been abandoned by THEM? Do you think they are supportive of such actions?
8) Despite everything they've tried to do, they still haven't shut him up or shut him down. Despite 100% media bias against Trump his movement is stronger than ever. That should send them a strong message about THEIR message. This action only makes things worse for THEM. And honesty, I'm finding it difficult right now to figure out why I should support any of them. I am starting to think this country needs them all out of power if it is survive this moment.
9) When is enough enough? What's next, gulags? Will you all still scratch your chins and say hmmmmm. I don't want to sound like a Trump supporter so I better say nothing. What they have already done to Jan 6th prisoners - throwing them in solitary, smearing them as racists, not to mention eliminating due process with the Primetime hearings, convicting Trump in the court of public opinion with no defense and now this? Can't you see this as a dangerous escalation? THEY are the threats to Democracy Itself.
10) This is purely political. No country persecutes their political enemies AFTER they have left office, in case they decide to run again. My god, when does it end? I can't even decide which of the powerful forces in our government has become more dangerous -- the Bush/Cheney empire or the Clinton/Obama/Biden empire. They all seem perfectly willing to subvert OUR democracy to serve their own ends and cling to power. It's disgraceful.
Why are they so afraid of Trump? Because they are afraid of someone who is not afraid of them. They are afraid of someone who says whatever he wants to say at a time of extreme thought and speech policing. They are afraid of a grass movement they no longer have. They are afraid of someone who has the kind of charisma that wins elections, which they no longer have.
I guess I always expect more from Bari and Common Sense. But in the end, if you can't cross the Trump line, you will never get the story. You think that all you have to do is stop the "woke" revolution with think pieces of like-minded sophisticates. You haven't yet realized that it's all the same thing. The reason Trump is getting MORE popular, not less, is that sometimes you need a Churchill, not a Chamberlain. We don't have enough Churchills.
I grew up in Providence, RI and spent most of life in College Park, Maryland so I know what it's like to be surrounded by people of a differing political persuasion. Things have gotten quite a bit worse in the last few years however. It is sad to think that your political views might influence the type of care you receive but unfortunately it is not an unrealistic worry. I now reside in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia so I can be more open about my politics.
Thank you. We are truly in the upside down. The distrust created by the Garland DOJ will not soon be dissipated . As we wait for Garland’s press conference right now, we can only imagine what they are cooking up to quell the outrage every American is currently feeling.
'Just another reminder: Trump has a copy of the warrant, which will include what they searched for and what crimes they believe were broken. He can release it whenever he wants.'
Several different sources contradicted this yesterday. They said the FBI presented the warrant for Trump's attorney to read, but didn't allow it to be copied, and took it with them when they left. Who knows what actually happened?
The warrant may have been sealed and even if it has not Trump's lawyer have reviewed it now and indicate it was vaguely worded and the predicate describing the probable cause for issuing it has been redacted.
I think the fact that Garland is now doing the Sgt. Schultz routine and claiming he didn't know the raid was going to go down indicates the DOJ likely has no confidence that it would stand up to scrutiny.
Which would indicate to me that this isn't really about the records, but more about a fishing expedition to support Jan 6 charges, or simply to get the heat off Garland, who's been accused by the progs of not being harder on DJT.
I am curious about how documents are managed at the WH and National Archives. How could top secret documents walk out the WH door with Trump? Aren’t there safeguards that keep track of top secret stuff? Or maybe what’s in these boxes isn’t really top secret but we are being told they are so Trump looks bad.
If Trump was keeping self-incriminating stuff why wouldn’t he scrub it, ya, know with bleach, like Hillary did?
Why was it necessary to bring armed FBI agents to retrieve boxes? Was that for photo ops?
I read Jonathan Turley’s article that an FBI raid wasn’t even necessary. Say Trump refused to return the documents. The next step would be a special prosecutor. Going full armed FBI was shocking and out of proportion.
There is a democrat motive here and I don’t think we see all the cards in their hand.
His staff has been cooperating with requests to return material. This is all just political theater, designed to "make Trump unelectable". As is the New York AG's crusade.
I think it is likely that if Trump did have classified documents. The information contained in them is damaging to the Intelligence agencies themselves. Why else would they want them so badly?
Apparently he declassified massive amounts of documents before leaving office. At least according to Kash Patel (Chief of Staff to Trump's Sec'y of Defense) who was interviewed by Seb Gorka a few weeks ago. John Solomon of JusttheNews.com also reported this. I don't recall the specifics, but apparently there was some discussion that Trump's direction to declassify was ignored by subordinates, or possibly that staff at the National Archives later "reclassified" some of the documents after Trump left office... (speculating here, but "reclassified" at whose direction?) Lots of speculation that the documents in question exposed corruption within the intelligence community.
I couldn't find that interview, but here's a link to a short piece from justthenews.com from today:
My understanding is that part of the issue is that some if not all of this material was packed by GAO staff in the final days or even hours before Trump had to vacate the White House. Having moved a few times I have a feeling by that point the highest priority was getting this stuff into those boxes with little regard to what was being removed. People acting like Trump or his people were meticulously selecting critical documents for removal are mostly blowing smoke. Reports coming out now indicate the discussions between Trump and the National Archives are over such important documents as napkins and menus from White House functions.
Glad your not worried about civil war, maybe you should worry about criminalizing domestic opposition and the abuse of state power to affect elections.
It’s very troubling - one reason I watched the January 6th hearings so closely was to learn how Trump tried to do that.
So if the Biden administration tried to hastily cobble together a case to kneecap Trump out of fear he would declare his candidacy soon, heads should roll.
Not much I didn’t already know: Donald Trump is an un-American thug who should have never come within sniffing distance of power. But like any other gangster, he is entitled to the defenses of our legal and constitutional system, and it would be a dangerous abuse if those were suspended to go after him here. If. Remains to be seen what exactly went down.
This is moral judgement, not information. Sounds like you learned nothing and just deepened your irrational hatred of the man, which was the entire point of the phony "investigation."
I figured it was more expedient to share my conclusions. The particulars that I learned were that his inner circle were constantly threatening resignation to keep him from taking extreme steps that would have seriously imperiled the country, that Mike Pence was under even more direct threat than we had previously known from media reporting and still understood what his duty was under the law, that Trump expressed specific frustration that his people were not able to get violent and threaten the Capitol rather than, as I had previously thought, that he just wanted them to be heard to show how much they loved him and soothe his wounded ego or whatever. I learned that a sitting President betrayed his oath to the Constitution and to the country, that any functioning political system would have impeached him, and that anyone like you who still has their head in the sand about this has let their partisan rage run away with their brains just as surely as any TDS-afflicted democrat screaming at the sky.
14. They called Ashley Babbit's murder "heroism" less than a year after they praised riots over police brutality during a pandemic lockdown. I will never forgive the Democrats for that. It was absolutely, unequivocally evil.
15. They kept on lying about Sicknick being killed by protestors months and months after the truth had already come out.
"Trump expressed specific frustration that his people were not able to get violent and threaten the Capitol"
That is a complete lie. Both before and during the riot he explicitly called for calm and peace.
Here's what I learned from the J6 hearings:
1. It has no legislative purpose and as such is completely illegal.
2. Their use of the word "insurrection" is a willful, divisive, inflammatory lie, and people like you believe their lies
3. Their major "bombshell" testimony was third party hearsay that proves to be false. After five years of phony "bombshell" revelations, Democrats will still fall for the same lies and rhetorical tactics, because they choose to.
4. The J6 committee brazenly edited Trump's texts. They doctored their "evidence" in plain site. They are brazen lies. Democrats don't care
5. They are dragging the show out as long as possible.
6. It was conceived from the outset as made-for-TV Reality Government, produced by the same company that did a two year investigation into Epstein and then buried it because they came up with incriminating evidence on Bill Clinton.
7. They lied about Trump saying Mike Pence should be hanged.
8. They lied about Ray Epps. I really can't say this one enough. It's so brazen and so obvious that Epps was a plant and they're protecting him. Again, Democrats simply don't care what the truth is.
9. They made no effort at all to explain the lack of Capitol Hill security, and they were dishonest about Trump repeatedly offering to put more law enforcement in the way of his own "insurrection."
10. Every single person on that committee spread lies and conspiracy theories about Trump for years. Again, Democrats simply don't care how much damage their divisive lies do.
11. Every person on the committee was specifically selected by Pelosi, one of the most partisan and deceitful politicians in my lifetime.
12. Their while purpose was to prove Trump's guilt, and they had to lie over and over to try to do it.
13. People like you simply don't care what the truth is, and never will.
More likely You and Terry are DTS. That's the opposite of TDS. It means Deranged Trump Supporters. Moral judgment? I call it a judgment on the man's character, which is below zero. DTSs won't see it that way, because they can't see except outta the far-right eye.
you watched a well packaged hit piece put together by some 1/2 assed producers . They showed what they wanted cut whatever did not jibe with their version of what happened
thousands of hours of videos not released by the "select committee". They don't want people to see what really happened... or did not happen... that day.
I am dying to hear just what El Trumpty should/could have done, once the building was breached...and so funny, once their was testimony "DRiver said No Go to the March, Donald", just what should HE have adjusted...flextime.
No doubt this is a perilous time. We are being controlled and have been for a long time. We can keep our heads about us to understand that we have become a Third World Country for long enough to understand our government is in the pockets of the globalists has sold out the American people and no longer even pretends to care if we know it. How to tell when we are being serially abused and played. You dismiss serious political thought being discussed here on SubStack and on our current town square (the internet) as if it were inconsequential. MSM has been thoroughly bought and sold to the highest bidder. Wow.
If it weren’t for the obvious DOJ favoritism toward Hunter Biden, the DOJ failure to prosecute mishandling classified material by Hillary Clinton, the failure to enforce laws protecting Supreme Court justices from “parading and intimidation” by protestors, the failure to prosecute James Comey for leaking classified information to the media, the lies and misrepresentations in FISA warrant applications to surveil Carter Page, the restoration of bar privileges to Kevin Clinesmith, the entire Mueller “investigation of Russian collusion,” and the absolute abrogation of the duty to enforce immigration law, I would have complete faith in the integrity of the DOJ and the FBI.
But there are just too many things we can’t unsee.
Indeed. How does French miss the in-our-face-evidence that some people ARE above the law? And they all happen to be on Team Never Trump. Like he is. Oh wait—I think I answered my own question.
I tire of this blather: "First, no American is above the law, including presidents and former presidents." Today's two-tiered judicial system makes a mockery of the premise for making such an inane statement. Just stop. 🛑
I believe that FBI Director Chris Wray said this week that they simply didn’t have the personnel to stop protesters outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.
Apparently those protesters are above the law.
Yes but they have adequate personnel to perform SWAT team raids on old men such as Roger Stone and Peter Navarro and to unleash legions of apparatchiks to harass moms who want to know what filth their children are being taught. Or to gin up phony plots against lunatics such as Gretchie Whitmer.
But, again, of course, inadequate personnel to investigate credible reports of school shooters, terrorists and jihadists taking flying lessons but not landing lessons....... Clowns led by a blow dried buffoon.
Since we’re all speculating at this point, here’s my contribution. The whole intent of the JustUs department, their shock troops in the FBI and their coconspirators in our “intelligence” agencies is to incite naïve Trump supporters or some unstable persons they'll label as such, into some ill-advised actions. It isn’t like we haven’t seen this movie before. I doubt they’ll engage Ray Epps again to move things along, but they have plenty of other re-treads with lots of false flag practice runs they can employ. They’ve already engaged their propagandists in the media and never-Trump flunkies like Michael Steele to smear Trump supporters and dare I say freedom and liberty loving Americans with statements like “assume all Republicans are dangerous until proven otherwise”. Never mind his previous warnings of “civil war” if Trump were impeached the first time never happened, it’s a pretext the deep state will use to harass and silence anyone speaking out against the police state we increasingly resemble.
I hope everyone remains calm, God knows weasels like Merrick Garland don’t need much of an excuse to bang on your door in darkness, shackle you in your underwear and parade you around outside your house in front of CNN cameras before they lock you up.
This is also what I fear. At this point, with the Media firmly in their grasp, the Democrats can tell any lie about any Republican and it will be believed by half the country. I'm sure they are salivating at the idea of having an excuse to decree Republicans "enemies of the state."
The sad reality is that attacks on Republicans (like the baseball shooting) are always going to be dismissed as unimportant and not indicative of other Democrats, while any Republican who puts their toe over the line is going to be touted as "proof" that ALL Republicans are dangerous.
Unless the Democrats make a significant misstep that causes too much Republican rebellion for them to be able to easily put down, they are going to keep chipping away at our rights and jailing Republicans one by one.
Unlike many here, I believe in my heart of hearts that America WILL fall to the Left. With the Media, Academia, Military leaders, and all government agencies in their grasp, I don't see how it can turn out any other way.
And while I don't like talking about my religious beliefs around those who would dismiss them AND me for having done so, all my study of prophecy supports the idea that the Left will triumph at present. One thing that has always stood out to me is that ALL the nations of the world will gather against Israel. Back in the 80s, when I was in seminary, it seemed impossible that the U.S. would be one of those nations. Now it is all too evident that the U.S. could do exactly that...but only under the leadership of Leftists, who have made no secret of their hatred of Israel.
Hang in there. There are still plenty of good people around, including more than a few who share your spirituality.
I understand what you are referring to, Celia, and I agree. Keep your head up.
Yes, my first reaction was that this was a pure provocation. Another event similar to Jan 6, and we will have a 100% totalitarian regime, which half the country would support as justified. If this was done to incite a reaction from Trump supporters, they almost succeeded. But they also caused disgust among independents. Something else have to happen as the air is too charged. If Trump can make public the warrant, he should. Let’s not play with fire.
I'm happy to let the JustUs Department an FBI stew a while. Every day that passes without explanation only exposes their contempt for the rule of law and the realization that after six years of persecuting Trump, they are what they have accused him of being.
Good advice, Tim but if what you're saying is true, then aren't we already long past the point of no return and might as well have a little mayhem?
Call me an optimist but I think our side is winning. When Trump was president there were a lot of folks in my orbit that happily joined the MSNBC crowd and accused him of being an imperious authoritarian. Now that they've experienced Biden and real authoritarians, they've gone silent. We need to stay focused on the upcoming election. If the republicans take back the house and hopefully the senate, my hope is that real hearings and successful impeachments will soon follow.
There's no such thing as a little mayhem. If you're actually the one w/your ass on fire, dead, or life destroyed, held without bail in a J6 D.C. dungeon, perspective on power and revolution might make you think volunteering for a "get out the vote" organization might have been more worth while.
We're at SUBSTACK because the American national dialogue has been compromised and turned into psyop. Criminal totalitarian finance gutted American industry while looting and destroying the American economy. The Clinton Democratic machines capitulation to criminal finance helped create the Globalist WEF/CCP juggernaut now poised to place its manicured jackbooted little foot squarely on our necks. In our favor, the open megalomania and narcissistic hubris of the Democratic Party's D.C. political leadership and its desperate ploy to hold us in thrall to a manufactured lie may be the reveal to the house of cards coal mine canary in their tunnel of doom. WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE POWER!!
Most Americans I encounter are totally disconnected from the reality we're attempting to engage at SUBSTACK. They know something's wrong. They're watching their lives and fortunes go into free fall. They're confused and beaten numb by the cultural and political disintegration around them. But, the cause and effect forces behind it remain mysterious. It's interesting that in this new age of instant communication so many of us are starved for accurate information. The links, connections, recommendations and opinions I encounter because of SUBSTACK authors and opinion is definitely a new doorway and possibility.
"Ism's" are dead. America and the WORLD has entered a new age and we are in a WORLD WAR to see who will control it. Totalitarian criminal finance (the WEF/CCP) with the help of the Clinton Machine compromised and gained control of the revolving door pay to play D.C. hog trough. It intends to impose a feudal social credit based World totalitarian state. Our Constitutional Republic is in their way. The Democratic Party and the morally bankrupt Clinton machine NEEDS TO GO!! And, the Republican Party needs to be reorganized.---As always: Marxist "woke" is the lipstick on a pig named Totalitarian Finance.
Got Constitution?
Mike R, well stated. You understand the real power behind the Western World, the World Economic Forum, and the likely real power behind the WEF, the CCP. Unfortunately they have indoctrinated so many into believing their narrative or frightened them into passivity, that it is unlikely there is a way out for now. I do not know if there is a way to fight back given they control the communication infrastructure, all institutional levers of power, the FBI, CIA and it appears the military.
It will take incredible ingenuity to find a way to bring back decency to America. I will always believe there is a way, but we need to all be street savvy and not give them more ammunition and more bodies.
I hesitate to believe SUBSTACK will continue to support the current open dialogue here.
I love them in times of peace, but in times of totalitarian control, I am afraid the likes of David French and Bari Weiss will not defend us in the end. They are unable to reconsider that "Trump is the greatest danger to democracy." Therefore his supporters are simply not to be trusted.
Gimme a break. You never learn, do Ya, Sir Bruce?
I'll ask again: Who's to be the General?
This is a serious question, jt: How far will the Left have to go before you would employ violence to resist?
Wow well written the FBI, Homeland Security etc are nothing more than scam and sham organizations. I wouldn’t trust them to guard my dog let alone my being, as for the deep state we don’t have to imagine how deep it goes we seeing first hand of how bad, it’s almost like the gov,big tech,legacy media and the corporations will stop at nothing to provoke the 74 million Americans who never voted for Brandon. It’s crazy stuff, you have to keep telling yourself this is America. Dan Bongino today on his podcast said we have to keep our cool. the deep state would love nothing more than for us to loose our heads!
Please trust the FBI with your guard dog!
🤣🤣🤣are you kidding you haven’t met my dog
Lol!
Stone and Navarro are very dangerous old men. The conspired with Trump to overthrow the government. Navarro went so far as to draft a memo outlining how it could be done. They may be mental cases but they are very dangerous mental cases.
So because you view them as "dangerous" that warrants oppressive SWAT team raids on them? The only thing I see as "dangerous" is the danger of people such as you who believe in ends justifying means and massive government overreach and oppression in violation of criminal procedure and the rule of law. Both "dangerous" men were represented by counsel and would have peacefully surrendered themselves if asked. Sorry but you need some serious time considering your beliefs.
Don’t think time or her beliefs are worth her considering she is one of those never Trumpers.
Did you read that in the Enquirer? Oh, wait, you're probably too young to understand that reference. So, I'll ask: can you provide citations for us to read the memo? And, wow. Not judgie are we? "Dangerous OLD men"? I mean, seriously, did you vote for Biden? Or Hillary? Because they are BOTH older than either Navarro or Stone and from where I sit, they've both used their positions to wield more unchecked power and abuse of our citizens than anything near what Stone or Navarro are even accused of attempting.
Are you kidding?
TDS is a serious non-curable syndrome.
Ah yes, TDS - the favorite all-purpose talking point for weak-minded Trump supporters.
Nope she is not Terry one of TDS people.
I urge you to read some history and find out what overthrowing a government actually looks like. There are countless examples of course, but you could start with the French Revolution or the Bolshevik Revolution, or the Cuban Revolution, etc. What you'll find is that actual overthrows of governments look nothing like the Jan. 6 clown show.
Sri Lanka a couple weeks ago
If you believe that the US government was in any danger of being “overthrown” by Trump, then you are divorced from reality.
We all watched it happen in real time on TV. Don't gaslight us here.
Yes, I watched it too. J6 can be described many ways, but a concerted and serious effort to overthrow the government of the United States is not one of them.
Both were charged with misdemeanors that countless people (Democrats) have committed with no consequences.
I hope this was sarcasm
You are the perfect example of a hopeless libtard cnn junkie. You are probably one of the 8% of Americans who believe Elvis is still alive. Good luck with that; you’re going to need it.
Libtard...wow, what a command of the English language you have.
So, when you watched 1/6 go down and saw the breakdown of it on TV or on the news you thought "nothing to see here, typical American day". I would say that you are the one who thinks Elvis is still alive and that Jesus would approve of Trump (the grandest delusion of all).
I saw people peacefully wandering into the Capitol building, welcomed by the police, and taking selfies in the hallways. There were also a few dozen violent protesters, none of them armed, and some of them quite possibly FBI plants. But do go on believing what you believe that it was the worst day in American history.
And, yes, Jesus probably would approve of the fact that Trump kept us out of foreign wars and worked hard to end the existing wars. Even if the Democrats married to the big defense corps. did not approve.
It certainly didn't seem much different from the takeover of the Wisconsin capital a few years earlier or the hectoring of Brett Kavanagh from the senate hearing room...
You did not clearly note this was satire. If that was an omission, I apologize in advance tor stating you must be one of if not the most repellent and disgusting creatures ever creatted.
Higgins: "...either you're an honest man or a rogue."
Doolittle: [tolerantly] "A little of both, Henry, like the rest of of: a little of both."
-"Pygmalion" - George Bernard Shaw
GFY
Navarro...has high ideals and principles, great guy...you bet.
Bruce...i'd say this is a good post, but l do not want to blow my cover.
And clown suits are sold out...
Oh and who can forget the FBI ignored the pleas of our young gymnasts who were being sexually abused by a demonic fiend.
Wray lied. It’s that simple. Or either he’s telling us he can’t manage the FBI well. It’s one or the other.
It really doesn't have to be one or the other. I believe he is quite capable of both lying and not being able to manage the FBI.
Remember after the issue with the women gymnasts being sexually abused and the FBI failed to act? Wray said in an apology it would never happen again on his watch. Isn't the point of managing something making sure it NEVER happens again? That the systems prevent this from happening without regard to who heads the bureaucracy.
Maybe Wray can borrow some armed agents from the IRS.
Imagine trusting those jokers with guns?
It is perfectly legal and constitutional to protest outside the homes of any public figure, including SCOTUS justices. So there's no one for the FBI to "stop."
That doesn't mean I believe the protests are smart---just the opposite. But protesters can do it if they want as long as they stay on public property.
It is, in fact illegal.
18 U.S. Code § 1507 - Picketing or parading.
Reference: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1507
"Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."
Really? OK. Under your interpretation, every January 6 protestor is guilty of the federal crime of picketing and parading and will need to spend time in jail, pay a fine, or both, whether they were rioting or merely chanting and protesting.
Absurd, right? I think so. Our society treats peaceful protestors very differently from those who actually interfere with an official's duties. The former is protected by 1A; the latter is subject to arrest. MAGAs who protested peacefully on January 6, not entering the Capitol and not entering the riot, were completely within their 1A right to do so. MAGAs who rioted, entered the capitol, or committed other crimes, were not, and were correctly arrested. MAGAs arrested for peaceful protest are due civil damages for illegal arrest.
Same with the protestors walking the homes of the SCOTI. If they block traffic, riot, throw rocks, use a sound truck, punch cops, or make their points through other non-peaceful means, they are subject to arrest. If they do none of that, they aren't. Using the code to arrest peaceful picketers and paraders would be blatantly unconstitutional.
Pity the poor prosecutor who tries to make the case that a woman carrying a picket sign protesting the Roe vote is a lawbreaker solely because she's standing on a public sidewalk in front of Barrett's house. He'd be laughed out of court.
That's what Nancy believes. Turnabout is fair play.
Good luck getting that law past the First Amendment.
Time , place and manner dude. Already established by precedent
Peaceful protest on public property--even outside a justice's home--is absolutely protected by 1A. If it weren't, nobody could protest any government official or action. That they can means these protestors can, too.
But hey, I'm reasonable. Arrest one of the protestors as a test case and watch even this SCOTUS overturn this part of the U.S. code on grounds it's unconstitutional. Peaceful protest of public officials is the heart and soul of 1A.
it has been tested multiple times.
So was Roe until SCOTUS declared it unconstitutional. If the cops want to arrest a protestor who is peacefully walking the public sidewalk in front of Amy or Kav's house, fine. I'll look forward to even this SCOTUS declaring the ban an unconstitutional breach of 1A.
The First Amendment is not limitless. Interfering with the mechanisms of justice is against the law. If you try to intimidate a juror, a witness, or a judge, you have gone beyond your First Amendment rights.
Peaceful protest is not intimidation, nor is it "interfering with the mechanisms of justice." What they are doing might violate this U.S. code, but even this SCOTUS would rule that peaceful protest is Constitutionally protected.
Arrest a protestor and see what happens, I'd welcome the Roe-like overturn of this illegal statute.
Shane...good point, in that it reminds us about the 700/800 arrested for protest for jan 6th march, most never did enter any buildings, so no damage by most and they were on Public Property... i know you agree, thanks.
Yes, I do agree, Jim. Anyone who was merely there but did no damage and did not enter the building, they should not have gotten a second look by police, let alone gotten arrested. I reserve my anger for those who rioted, hurt people, or damaged our Capitol. MAGAs had every right to protest peacefully that day or any other if they did none of that.
Same with the protestors outside the justices' homes. As long as they remain peaceful and on public property, they have every Constitutional right to be there. They start throwing rocks through windows or crank up a sound machine at midnight, off to the pokey they shall go. Or should.
To be clear, I don't like the idea of protesting outside officials' homes. It only hardens officials' resolve to not "give in to the mob," and the public doesn't like it, either, which hurts the cause. But they have the Constitutional right to have their say and march their march, just like the January 6 folks did.
Shane we don’t agree on a lot but at least you seem to be intellectually consistent. Thx and it’s rare these days.
Thanks very much for that, T Reid, I appreciate your courtesy. I try to be consistent, and I don't require anyone to agree with me, only that they state their opposition clearly and without (too much!) rancor. I'm here precisely because I want to see viewpoints other than my own; it's the only way to learn anything.
Thanks again.
What did the protesters outside justices' homes accomplish besides terrorizing the neighbors?
It doesn't matter what they did or didn't accomplish. The only thing that matters is 1A protects their right to parade and picket public officials, as long as it's done peacefully.
Personally, I don't like protests in front of officials' homes; it's counterproductive. It hardens the target's vow to "not give in to the mob," and the public considers it tawdry. But they think differently, and in America, they have the right to mount even counterproductive protests.
As for "terrorizing" the neighbors, they must breed some kind of milquetoast neighbors in Georgetown.
When the protesters scream and beat on pans and yell obscenities in your neighborhood then you can tell me what a milquetoast you’re not, tough guy.
Law enforcement agencies have prosecutorial discretion. There is no requirement to go after everyone who breaks every law. We're seeing dramatic upticks in political violence and death threats against public officials. Certain things need to take priority.
One would think the safety of Supreme Court justices would be one of those things that takes priority. Particularly after one individual was arrested with zip ties and a plan to kill Brett Kavanaugh.
The individual was arrested, i.e. the security and safety was effective. We don't know every security tactic being used because making that information public would only serve to give people a way to circumvent it. I'm sure most public figures are quite safe.
The individual was arrested because he turned himself in.
If you believe "peaceful protest = officials are in danger," then nobody including Trump supporters can ever be allowed to protest anything. That simply doesn't fly in my America.
It’s very hard to parse Pelosi’s “no one is above the law”, yet Hillary Clinton got off Scott free, Hunter Biden buys a gun even though he lied about his drug addiction (not to mention the prostitutes, not paying taxes, grifting for money either Chinese & Ukrainians) and then Pelosi’s ne’er-do-well drunk husband just walks away from prosecution. There is a 2-tiered system of Justice in this country and folks are angry about it for good reason.
...and then there is "10% for the Big Guy." If we don't get rid of these creeps, we are screwed.
I'm not a big fan of Biden and I do think there is a two tier system right now. But Biden wasn't VP in 2017 when this plan was discussed, so while it might increase concern that this type of thing was going on before then, there's no particular problem with Biden being part of such an entity after he was out of office. If it had continued in operation (it did not) when he then ran for office again there would be an issue.
The reason Bobulinski's verification of this carried weight was that it validated the laptop contents as real.
And don’t forget Pelosi’s crooked little son who “escorted” her on the Taiwan debacle. THEY EVEN TOOK HIS NAME OFF THE PLANE’S PASSENGER MANIFEST! But, there’s nothing to see here folks.
Robert...least we forget, Pelosi comes into office with about $3 Million and do to her hard work ethics, while working a Government Job, has now acquired around $160 Million.
She hopes to gather Mucho, with her trip to Chip makers in Taiwan.
Pelosi is like an Italian thug...
"You've got a nice little country here. Would be a shame if something were to happen to it."
Read up on Pelosi's father
Yup, Nancy is a mafioso-in-the-making....
I think by now she’s a “made man” ☺️
The examples you cite are tip of the iceberg. Not even that. They're tiny little flakes of frost floating above the iceberg.
And don’t forget that Pelosi’s son - also under 5 different fed investigations - hopped on Nancy’s Asia trip to countries crucial to his business interests.. Pauly Jr is Hunter Part 2. US press scrubbed him from pictures and records while foreign press showed and covered it.
In the past, her son has also been in legal suit about questionable business dealings...no angel...the Pelosis are reprehensible
| Hillary Clinton got off Scott free |
There were nonstop investigations of Benghazi, the FBI released info about her emails right before the election, etc. Maybe, as Gertrude Stein once said, "there's no there there."
FACT: Hillary Clinton and her staff smashed phones and equipment so that information could not be retrieved. Nothing was done about it.
Fact, Mueller's team disabled at least 10 iPhones from the FBI with evidence incriminating Strozk, Page and others.
How does the saying go? "Being blind is acceptable; being blind to your blindness is inexcusable." I'm going with "Maybe not, as Gertrude Stein once said, 'there's no there there.''"
For the win!
Most beautiful comment on this entire thread.
I can't give this statement enough likes. They've made it very clear that in practice *plenty* people are *above the law* and *the law* is very capriciously applied. That is what this is all about.
Reminds me of that quote from Orwell's "Animal Farm" where the head pig proclaimed "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".
Love that quote, and yes some animals are much more equal than others.
While no one is above the law, a very select group are obviously above investigation and indictment.
How can you tell? They have a (D) after their names.
Every one of Epstein's clients is above the law, especially Bill Clinton.
The very fact that liberals like French have to preface everything they say with that catechism undermines whatever speculative argument they're about to spout.
This French guy is just a talking head. You could have gotten virtually any of the commenters on this blog to write a similar, probably better column based on the facts and speculation we currently have.
French is impossible to read. He writes blather.
Waste of time
A statement is made that no one including presidents is above the law, and then in almost the same sentence Hillary Clinton's name is mentioned. Talk about hypocrisy.
Just like they used the fraudulent Carter Page FISA warrant to spy on Trump administration comms, they’re using a specious National Archives issue to fish for documents. I tend to believe Sundance from The Conservative Treehouse who speculates that they were looking to get hold of the documents that John Radcliffe had assembled and Trump had de-classified. If released to the public, they would likely show how absolutely corrupted the FBI/DOJ has been. Keep in mind that Obama took tens of thousands of documents for his unbuilt Library, I actually think he’s running the show from his command post in DC. Remember when Psaki was press secretary and said she loves working for Obama.
Actually, Hillary Clinton, having never been President, is *more* guilty of hiding classified information among her personal effects. She didn't have the ability to declassify at a whim.
It has already been made plain that there ARE people above the law. Saying "no one is above the law" demonstrates a denial of reality.
It has been said that the problem with communism is that real communism has never been tried. Well the problem with fascism is that real fascism HAS been tried. So when there aren’t gas chambers and tall black boots and a guy with a mustache, people say
“Oh don’t be silly that’s not fascism”
No. This is fascism and it has been for a long time. Certainly could be much worse, and it’s absolutely trending that direction, but this is fascism.
The federal government steals half of my money and gives it to Democrats to buy their loyalty with a myriad of benefits agencies and programs.
Every aspect of life is controlled by the federal government. The federal government which cannot be challenged or changed, in Washington DC, is 95% Democrat and 5% Bill Kristol. The media is Democrat propaganda almost entirely and they have paramilitary and military enforcement totally controlled by Democrats. Again, DC is 95% Democrat. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is fascism.
They should just indict Trump now with anything they want because if the trial is in DC it’s a guaranteed conviction. Fascism.
I think one important element is missing, and that's the fixation on a single glorified individual. I think leftists are correct that the extremes of Trump worship qualify better in that regard and only in that regard.
But otherwise, when my company has an executive "officer" to enforce the explicit values of the Democratic Party, and my child's kindergarten has the exact same values and rhetoric word for word, and we are not allowed to oppose those values or their leadership, and these value "officers" are present in every single organization in the USA and other countries, yes. This is fascism, and it's not just the USA.
Fascism is cooperation between business and government to subjugate the public. It often takes a totalitarian/authoritarian bent because otherwise who would subscribe to a system like that? So, no, you don't need one individual, but you do need a one supreme ideology that can't be questioned or it all starts to fall apart.
Politicians are getting insanely rich while in office and it's not all coming from front-running the stock market. I wonder how much Bush and Cheney got from the Iraq invasion and rebuilding, or how much Bush got from the bank bailouts which Obama continued when he took office. How many politicians have family members running businesses that benefit from government funding. Government, banks and business aren't just cooperating, they're becoming one entity.
"They're becoming one entity," which is fascism. I know you understand, but many don't, that fascism isn't hatred, bigotry, totalitarianism, or authoritarianism. It isn't when some leader criticizes the media or politically unpopular opinions. It's exactly what you described, when all those things become so intermingled as to be indistinguishable from one another and the population is managed for be benefit of that resulting organism. The danger is not recognizing fascism when you see it simply because it's not taking the face the evening news tells you it's supposed to.
I wish more people understood this.
Well yeah but now we are getting into a sort of “what is the technical definition of a recession” discussion. Charismatic leader is the least important aspect in my opinion. I think the willingness to turn a decrepit corrupt feckless parasite like Joe Biden into the glorious leader uniter and soul healer is scarier.
Regardless, it’s totalizing top down authority. If Republicans win the House and Senate and the White House it will be useful to watch how they simply can’t do anything. They can’t even revoke the pensions or law licenses of the people in the actual permanent government who committed crimes. Fascism.
Best fun fact that I heard surrounding the additional IRS shock troops they are hiring to rape your family and the future of your children is that current IRS folks, unionized of course, donate 97% Democrat. This is fascism. There are much worse versions obviously. It is still fascism.
“He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”
Fascism.
(the government steals half of my money and I would literally rather be raped once per year if I was allowed to stipulate a few minor things)
Where is that quote from?
The Declaration of Independence written by *actual* conservatives who absolutely would have wanted this government to be crushed. They were conserving liberty. Today’s ‘conservatives’, like the author, are focused on conserving the existing labyrinth of illegitimately erected fascist agencies.
KD ...your old style was good, this is better, s.
I might have to brake out my printer.
😂😂🙌🙌
The Declaration of Independence.
I am appropriately embarrassed for not knowing that 😂😂
Kevin, are you saying these are the characteristics of Democrats?
Fascists have a disregard for human rights.
Fascists believe minorities are a threat to the nation.
Fascists believe in the supremacy of the military.
Fascists believe in the superiority of the male sex.
Fascists obsess over national security.
Fascists believe government and religion should work together.
Fascists believe in protecting corporate power.
Fascists believe labor power needs to be suppressed.
Fascists disrespect intellects and the arts.
Fascists are obsessed with crime and punishment.
Yes Democrats are fascists. They want (have) top down centralized control of society. Your list of vague bullshit is what the fascists use to exploit emotionally-driven simpletons.
“We oppose the rich corporate billionaire merchant Jews…..I mean millionaires. Give us power ve vill control zem for ze fair share!!”
“You must give us power to show your love for immigrants and the environment and the LGBT workers we will protect you with the government which must increase!!!”
It’s persuasive if you’re a moron and appealing if you’re a sack of shit.
Of course it’s the responsibility of the US taxpayer to support endless war in Ukraine! If you don’t agree you’re a fascist neo nazi. No, not like the Azov Brigade, that’s (D)ifferent.
Kevin, to say you’re intellectually devoid would be high praise; you’re like the event horizon of a black hole, where reason and logic can’t escape!
If *you* thought I was smart I would walk into the ocean.
Liked: "95% Democrat and 5% Bill Kristol." This math adds up perfectly. Unfortunately, the "Bill Kristol" crowd isn't going away anytime soon, especially with Donald J. Trump in the White House on the horizon once again.
The phrase "no one is above the law" is quickly becoming the hallmark of defenders of the two-tiered justice system.
Every time I read or hear that statement I feel like Sally after realizing Linus was an idiot believer in the great pumpkin and she was an idiot to go along with it. 🎃
Consider a different angle: It’s not Hypocrisy, You’re Just Powerless. https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/its-not-hypocrisy-youre-just-powerless
That is a very good piece. We have already lost. We just don't know it yet.
What is “Today's two-tiered judicial system”? I’m sorry, I don’t follow.
It refers to people being treated differently by the justice system based on politics.
Thank you, person who may or may not be Kevin Durant. 🤓
I suppose another ad hominem is appropriate as in, "Thank you, person who may or may not be a patriot."? You'd have to be blind to your blindness if you can't come up with numerous examples of the two-tiered system of justice here in America. Just look at the roles of incarcerated individuals charged with misdemeanors languishing in DC jails. Humdreds of examples there, PatriotD.
Thanks but I really just didn’t get the reference until Kevin explained. Simple ignorance on my part is all.
Ah. Good to know. The double standard in applying justice in America is patently obvious. Sorry I misconstrued the gist of your question.
This whole kerfuffle about the potential of classified documents At Trump's Mar-a-Lago home reminds me of the orange orangutan debating crooked Hillary at a presidential debate to become the 45th president of the United States. Donnie said: “So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment, like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” And at one of his rallies, he told his cult followers: “When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth, so they’re not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful,” so in typical Trump style, what did he do this week he took the Fifth Amendment over 400 times, in this instant, apparently Donald, believes what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.
I find it ironic that sometimes there is poetic justice; Donnie boy was hoisted with his own petard; in January 2018, he signed: 18 U.S. Code § 1924 - Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. This legislation said in part: knowingly removing such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. He made something that was a misdemeanor, into a felony, because of what Hillary did; this brings a whole new meaning to “lock her up.”
All those hyperventilation about a group of FBI agents enforcing the law, compared to January 6: where people broke windows to let in over 2000 people to defile the seat of our great democracy!
(1) "Donnie" admitted that he now understands why people take the fifth.
(2) Do you know how many states still have "sodomy" laws on the books? They're never enforced. If someone were to start enforcing them, people would not look askance at the person they arrested but at the people doing the arresting because they would see it for what it was: persecution, not justice or equal application of the law. There is a long list of people who have flagrantly ignored the code you just cited and not one of them was subject to an FBI raid. So, yes, the law is on the books, but it's never enforced, so why are they enforcing it now other than to persecute one person or group of people? They didn't just suddenly "find Jesus."
(1) Awfully convenient of Trump to "admit" that just now, isn't it?
(2) Since you don't know what is in the search warrant--neither do I; nobody does; the contents are not yet public--how can you believably call the search of Mar-a-Logo "persecution"?
(3) The good news for you, me, and everyone else is Merrick Garland tonight announced that he will unseal the warrants and supporting documents so the public can see what the FBI was looking for--and will do that tomorrow unless Donald Trump objects to those documents being made public.
(1) You've never learned something from experience and come to appreciate the other side's point? (No, I've dealt with you before. Dumb question. Forget I asked.)
(2) Because unless it's a dead body in a box, no one goes searching previous administration's houses, and if it was a dead body in a box, I think we would have heard. So it's persecution.
(3) The warrant is pretty meaningless as is the property list. Unless they unseal the affidavit showing what "evidence" Garland had and what law he was citing, we know nothing, and he made no commitment to do that. He expects everyone to take it on faith that a partisan FBI got a partisan judge to sign off on the information so that was good enough. It's meaningless unless we can read the affidavit, unredacted and in full. Forgive me if with my knowledge of the history of the DOJ and FBI, particularly of the last six years, I find the idea of trusting them to be honest and forthright laughable.
(1) I have, in fact, changed my views on several issues, thanks to people on this site making cogent and intelligent arguments. Cogent and intelligent do not include you, since you decided to make it personal.
(2) Presidents' homes are off-limits to law enforcement unless murder is involved? Good to know your standard. So how would Attorney General Gajewski have retrieved the classified material at Mar-a-Lago? Trump was asked to return the documents and didn't; he was subpoenaed to return them and didn't. Would you have asked "pretty please with sugar on top, Mr. President?" Or would you have sent FBI agents to pick them up?
You would have done what Garland did.
(3) The warrant and inventory of evidence seized at Mar-a-Lago are meaningless? That's the silliest thing I've heard all day, but then again, the day is young. What you're fishing for are the names of FBI informants, if any exist. Not only is that not going to happen--law enforcement protects informant identities for a reason--but it's not necessary. People care only about what the documents are, not who alerted the government about their location.
(1) You remember. I dealt with you before and I know this isn't really a conversation. You've been going up and down this board repeating media talking points without any serious consideration as to their validity.
(2) Just because I'm not an attorney general doesn't mean I can't comprehend. But he could have subpoenaed the material. That is usually the first step. You generally don't rush right into busting into a person's home. Chris Bray had an excellent article today on the tendency to hide behind "expertise": https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/the-maneuver?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
(3) The warrant just states in general where they're allowed to search. As they "searched" everywhere, it has to be by default quite vague and therefore meaningless. The list of what they took could simply say X number of boxes with documents. They seemed quite indiscriminate in what they took. That's not that informative. The affidavit, on the other hand, says what evidence they think they had to justify the warrant and what laws they are using as justification.
And thank you for jumping to conclusions, because now I have another question I hadn't even considered: since when do we have FBI "informants" in ex-presidents' homes? If the FBI is infiltrating presidents' homes, we've got a problem. The FBI has a long and fabled history of being weaponized, so you're basically making the argument that many others are making: maybe it's time to reform or break up the FBI.
Shane, I find it entertaining that our Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland has essentially called Trump’s bluff, and now we’ll see if Trump tries to stop him from unsealing the warrant, any bets?
Made me smile, too.
Not as witty as you think: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/donald-trump-fires-back-ag-merrick-garland-fbis-mar-a-lago-raid-release-documents-now
Lillia, I’ll see your Fox News, and raise you a MSNBC news, I’m certain, you don’t think MSNBC news is credible, but that is not relevant, what’s relevant here, is law, and Donnie’s ego. His hubris may have done them in, and if he goes to trial, it will surely be a circus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmW5oWhY8sw
Lillia, you say: "There is a long list of people who have flagrantly ignored the code you just cited and not one of them was subject to an FBI raid. So, yes, the law is on the books, but it's never enforced, so why are they enforcing it now other than to persecute one person or group of people? They didn't just suddenly "find Jesus." I’m pretty sure Jesus would’ve told you that you better load your brain before you shoot your mouth off. Below you will find some examples of the law being enforced:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1207911/download
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/29/document-search-warrant-application-for-minneapolis-fbi-agent-records
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2018/03/18/former-nro-contractors-house-searched-classified-materials/
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4426181-Minneapolis-FBI-Agent-Search-Warrant-Application.html
Okay, show me one example of someone whose house was raided who was a former president or part of their administration who was illegally holding "classified" information or information the NARA wanted. I can give you two examples of people who weren't: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Now show me someone of their rank who was prosecuted. I'll wait.
And stop with phrases like "shoot off your mouth." We can have a civil conversation or you can show how unintelligent you are before we even start with that kind of low-IQ trash talk.
Lillia, talk about moving the goalpost; you just drove it off the continent! And I’ve been called a whole lot worse than an old-fashioned colloquialism that some would say is civil, but maybe I’m not as sensitive as you.
Stop deflecting. Answer my question. What former president or member of a former administration had their house raided using that code as justification, regardless of the fact that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama violated it?
And, no, you were not being civil.
Lynn, you sound like a liberal arts college student; you’re trying to ostracize and silence me. Apparently, you think I’m not politically correct. Are you trying to make this Substack a safe space where a dissenting voice and intellectual diversity are not welcomed? And here I thought this was the place that loved free speech, where ideas need to be challenged.
Well Lillia, it may be true that arcane laws are rarely enforced but that is a strawman argument. And it appears that Trump did indeed sign into law the very offense which is putatively (not positively) the basis for probable cause. Maybe that is why the Trump team is not releasing the suspected offense (which they have access to on the face of the warrant).
He did not "sign into law the very offense." Trump signed into law an amendment that increased the penalties but the law was on the books already and *no one* at that level of government had ever been charged under it. Tell me again what your point was.
As far as I've been able to read, they were shown the warrant but they were not given a physical copy. Unless you can show me otherwise . . .
The Democrats and the LEFT have totally EXHAUSTED the country since 2015 - first with the Russia Hoax, the two faux impeachments, etc, etc....we are EXHAUSTED and I am sure Trump is as well of the riotous & unreasonable behavior of the Democrats and their pals in the DEEP STATE & media - We should all plead the 5th and tell them to go to HXLL.
Yes. As I have opined here before, Trump represented, and may still represent, a threat to our constitutional order, but the unhinged reaction to him from the Democrats, the media, academe, the intelligence agencies, and the tech oligopolists represents a more serious threat.
Your great democracy is and always has been a constitutional republic. The U.S. has never been a democracy.
Bam! I did not know that Trump signed 18 U.S.C. 1924 into law (allegedly to get HRC, but who knows). If that is what the alleged violation is that supported probable cause for the search warrant, then as much as I hate weaponizing the law for political aims, that would just be the definition of poetic justice. Both sides speak with forked tongues. Those who are upset about this because it was done to Trump or hyperventilating on the hypocrisy of it all (while there is that) are missing the bigger picture. (Hint: it is not a great democracy)
He didn't sign it into law. He signed into law an amendment that increased the penalties.
"Increased the penalties ..."
Yes, he did. Which proves he knew the law existed, that it existed for a reason, and that he agreed with that reason so much that he pumped up the penalties for violating it.
It's only poetic that he might be the first recipient of his own tough-guyism.
Well, he himself didn't do it. That's not how legislation works, and Trump wasn't king, no matter how much you like to pretend he was. It was something Congress voted on and passed, and since it had to do with changing laws, it had to have at least 60 votes in the Senate, which means at least a few Democrats approved it as well.
And considering it was always on the books and no other person in the upper echelons of government, such as Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, who very flagrantly flaunted that law was charged with even a misdemeanor much less had people going through their underwear drawers, I'd say you're still stretching and have missed the point.
Memento, Rep. Michael O. Myers tells you how democracy works: "I'm gonna tell you somethin' real simple and short. Money talks in this business and bullshit walks. And it works the same way down in Washington." And this was before Citizens United!
https://www.upworthy.com/20-years-of-data-reveals-that-congress-doesnt-care-what-you-think
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
As Democrats are not true Americans, this statement holds true.
Re: two-tiered system of justice. Back in the 70s, I had a good friend who was an impecunious singer/songwriter. When Ford issued his incredibly broad blanket pardon of Richard Nixon, my friend professed optimism saying "This is great. Now if I get busted for pot I can just say 'Instead of sending me to jail, I'll just quit being a folk singer and that should be punishment enough.'" Two-tiered system? At least.
I remember the pardon. Moderates such as my parents grudgingly admitted that it was a good way to put Watergate behind us and let the nation heal. We were already trying to heal from Vietnam; lots of healing to do back then.
Up vote for introducing me to the word "impecunious" :)
I was going to say the same thing. But there are laws and other laws. Nancy Pelosi can walk into the capital and the House as needed, I can't and it is trite to assume otherwise.
French and the rest act like the traditional guard rails that defined the rules of US politics still exist. After using fabricated evidence to spy on the Trump campaign and then illegal leak the info to sabotage an elected president, why precisely should we trust the current powers that be.
I totally agree. Unfortunately the DOJ has so little credibility that they are barely above the faith in Congress.
To be clear I liked many of Trump's policies but didn't really care for the individual. Too big of an ego. But look now, we have a marshmallow.
What is missing is why after the Russian investigation that was nothing and the ineffective Jan 6 clown show that produces nothing useful, why the raid?
He has been investigated probably more than any American has ever been.
All the corrupt and political controlled DOJ does is raise more concerns about the deep state. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Yet they wonder why the distrust and conspiracy theories? The leadership is bankrupt of morals and interests other than self interest.
We don't need the current or past administrations again in 2024. How about some younger so called talent and some real interest in making the average person's life and the country better? Trouble is that money talks and controls the political parties.
The first President I voted for was Jimmy Carter, whose calling card was as a DC outsider who could clean up and toss out the garbage. Look what happened to him (I remember the Boston Globe headline, "More Mush From The Wimp", after his declaration of inflation as the moral equivalent of war).
Reagan? An outsider who took on DC and the existing world order. Toppled the USSR, but look at what the DC elites constantly tried to do to him.
Bush 1 was an insider, but primarily elected as Reagan's third term.
Clinton? The ultimate insider who fooled everybody into thinking he was a DC outsider. I really had the most hope for the Rhodes scholar/governor - did a lot but Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman and wound up exposed as a typical member of The Mendacious Order. Very sad.
Bush 2? No idea what happened there.
Obama? The first Black outsider.
Trump? "Ultimate Outsider"
Sorry to ramble but my point is - almost every single president in the last 42 years has been elected as a DC outsider with a mandate to clean up and toss the garbage, and the establishment (including and abetted by the Media) have resisted with every fiber of its being.
The Establishment is too busy trying to be our leader rather than our representative.
clinton was impeached by Big Tobacco.
What if the whole point of the raid was to create a stronger bond between Trump and voters? That sounds crazy, but all the news lately has been how the democrats want Trump to be the nominee because he’d be so easy to defeat. If voters feel he’s being abused, then they are more likely to vote for him instead of, say, DeSantis. As an added bonus, the raid pumped up all the foaming resistance, which is good for democratic turnout in this current election.
I’d have to believe that the DOJ and FBI were completely political arms of the party in that situation. It isn’t hard to come to that conclusion.
I agree with you. We need to vote younger people into leadership.
Pat, I had the same thought but don't want to believe it. Would have written it off as a nutter theory as recently as 2018. Now I'm not so sure.
The way I see it, there are only 3 possibilities for Merrick Garland here:
1) The DOJ is such an ideological echo chamber that Garland honestly didn't know how a raid on the former President, current party kingmaker, and likely future candidate would be perceived by at least 30% of the country.
2) Garland knew but didn't give a hoot, since Trump is Hitler.
3) The Dems think Trump is the best candidate to run against and Garland made a large public raid specifically to rally the GOP back to Trump and away from DeSantis.
Attributed to the DOJ and FBI, I'm not sure which quality would scare me least: incompetence, blind hatred, or political calculation.
I don’t think it’s 2 or 3. That’s a long game play and the urgency of now says it has to be something that will affect this election, in three months. So, they are trying to incite an event that will discredit republicans and make it harder for voters to vote for the Republican Party this election. They would want Trump, in that case, to say something that they can use to say he caused it, whatever it is they have planned, already.
You can already see the narrative forming. All the pundits are saying the FBI and DOJ are being threatened, as if there was no predicate for the anger on the right.
Wow. you're even further down the rabbit hole than I am. :-) And the scary thing is that it doesn't sound crazy. Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but I'm sticking my head in the sand and going for incompetence. It's the least scary of the options, and let's face it, incompetence in government bureaucracies is par for the course.
3 could be true if they know for sure Biden isn't going to run again. I don't believe for a second the Justice Dept. would not run this by the President first. He probably isn't going to run again or he would have stopped this in my opinion.
This is very possible, but I'd be amazed if they were so stupid as to try this again. The Clinton campaign did the same exact thing - elevated Trump above his Republican primary opponents in 2016, thinking he'd be more easily defeated in a general election - and it backfired enormously. Of course, they're already doing pretty much the same gambit in other elections right now.
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/reductio-ad-hitlerum
Sorry. I couldn’t get the link to work. I only got a blank page. I use Bravo.
Let’s take a step back. Does this have more to do with the current election than a future election? Why would they want to rile up republicans? Do they already have something like a Witmer plot arranged?
All I know is no one will dissuade me from voting in November. No matter what happens to Trump, I will vote. It’s the only voice I have. We have to get a Republican Congress first, then a Republican President and he has to be willing to fire everyone on day one.
Trump wavered. That’s on him. He didn’t use the power of his office and didn’t realize the trap his ego rally was. He worked in the swamp for four years and didn’t guess that they would plot to use his rally against him? He was blind. I’d never vote for him again. Though he makes a nice foil for DeSantis to prepare for 2024 without 100% of the negativity focused on him. That’s all Trump is good for right now, for me.
No worries. I think its probably Bravo. What the F.B.I. just did requires extraordinary institutional trust and yet they have zero credibility among the vast majority of independents and Republicans. Either the raid is pre-textual and they have something like the Whitmer plot cooked up, or they just made yet another all-time terrible political moves.
I thought of that also. And I don’t know how we’d ever find out for sure.
I guess we will have to wait for the trial to see it on display. I hate even thinking that. I’ve become so jaded over the last several years. It’s a shame.
On Megyn Kelly's podcast interview with Glenn Beck the other day, in the first five minutes she listed TWO DOZEN lawsuits or investigations against Trump or the Trump Organization. It's insane.
Yes - new blood. Some younger folks.
Sandy Berger was a national security advisor to the immoral Bill Clinton and John Kerry, stole classified documents from the National Archives and destroyed the documents. He plead guilty, didn't spend a day in jail and got a slap on the wrist fine.
Hillary Clinton was never charged for mishandling classified documents and never served a day in jail.
In the early 1980s I had a secret security clearance. If I had done a tenth of what Berger and Hillary did, I would still be in prison.
Oh, one more thing. You can bet your bottom dollar, all of us who participate on this BBS are in a government archive and they are keeping their eye on us. If the communist woke fanatics keep winning elections, we will be in deep trouble.
Fanatics don't tolerate any dissent and it is never good for those who do, think Chinese prisons/death camps for dissenters.
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you.
Bring it. Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Far better for them if we are cowed into silence.
Oh, and one more thing. This IS NOT about classified docs. It is seeking info on Jan 6.
So this article is incorrect?
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fbi-agents-took-around-12-105054712.html
I have no idea on your link. My point was that classified docs are a mere ruse to get into Trump's house and look for other things.
You may be right. I wouldn't put anything past a Democrat led government.
I would have agreed 100% with David French on this... in 2016. Then I watched the FBI and the DOJ engage in a 4 year conspiracy to undermine first the opposing candidate and then the duly elected President of the United States. This is not conjecture. FBI attorneys have pled guilty to falsifying FISA court applications. The FBI has acknowledged in Congressional testimony that they knew Russiagate was a red herring almost before Trump was inaugurated but pushed it anyway. Trump said they were out to destroy him, and all evidence is that (at least on that one issue) he was correct.
If your opponent is "wrong", you will seek to educate and convince him. But if your opponent isn't just wrong but is evil, evil cannot be convinced and must be destroyed. So how can institutions controlled by people who have demonstrated in both word and deed that they truly believe Trump (and all his voters) to be evil, possibly be trusted to deal fairly with him? Or with us? Any of us? Because once you've demolished the guardrails to fight evil once... (Sir Thomas More's injunction about the laws of Britain comes to mind.)
You don't have to believe Donald Trump rantings to believe this to be a political hit job.
I would add, their beliefs are that they are saving the planet and ending oppression, which also provides great justification to crushing people you oppose.
Per the wise George Carlin:
"The planet is fine. The *people* are fucked."
I posted this above but worth repeating based on your comment:
On Megyn Kelly's podcast interview with Glenn Beck the other day, in the first five minutes she listed TWO DOZEN lawsuits or investigations against Trump or the Trump Organization. It's insane.
Those may be technically legitimate, in the sense that Donald Trump may well have run corrupt businesses (kickbacks, union busting, tax dodging, bribery, etc...). He's a NYC real estate developer... that by itself implies a certain amount of corruption..
I agree with you the investigations wouldn't be going on if he wasn't an ex-President though.
It's everything from his niece who is suing him for supposedly cutting her out of an inheritance to tenants suing over rent increases because of new appliances being installed to a sexual harassment suit to needing to present his tax returns to two impeachment proceedings (which we know how they ended) to Eric Swalwell suing him over J6 to protesters in front of Trump tower suing him because they believe his security manhandled them or some such thing to the Georgia Election board and on and on and on and on.
Yes, as an NYC real estate mogul, he's always lawsuit prone, but much of this is utter nonsense.
Exactly - we have been here before.
I’m gonna write a comment that is sure to disappoint. I’m not even going to have any information or valid point. But I’m going to write it anyway and do so in a make a statement, ask a question format.
Let’s not forget, this the second warrant the FBI has garnered against Trump. The first, although not as dramatic as gun boats in the harbor and lights flashing out front, was a FISA warrant allowing “Spygate” to happen. In investigating that warrant there was a very solid paper trail of emails showing that NONE of the affidavits supporting the warrant were true and the personnel who executed those affidavits knew the basis for seeking the FISA warrant was falsely based on information contained in a dossier paid for and written by the Democrat party. Why then, are those FBI and DOJ employees above the law? Is the law suddenly above the law? Well, obviously no. There are bad cops in jail across America. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that if you are a Donald Trump hater in Washington, DC it appears you are above the law. What are you working so hard to keep hidden?
In all fairness the applications cited news articles to justify wiretapping domestic opponents, rock solid material my friend.
News articles that were planted by the same people seeking the warrant...
yup
Haha! Sorry, my bad. Never mind.
Best comment yet!
News articles that had been planted!
I would like Mr. French to explain how the FBI planting news stories and then using them to wiretap enemies is something people should be cool headed about.
yup
Great comment--it's the essential perspective. We're in a frog in the pot stage in the process of losing our civil liberties. The water is heating up gradually and we're in danger of not noticing we're about to be boiled alive. Your reminder of the first time the Deep State and the Democrat Party went after Trump is vital reminder of a 2016--when the water was lukewarm. Now it's getting painful to the touch. We need to jump out of the pot now or we're done like dinner, as the Australians say.
There are still too many out there who don't even think the water is getting warm.
Yup, and raising alarm bells is poo-pooed as "not helpful".
Danna...nice copy. thanks
Excellent comment! That is the question for Merrick Garland, Chris Wray: Is the law above the law?
Honestly, you need the ear of a legit journalist to ask that question.
As a subscriber, I don’t think David French is a good addition to your pool of contributors. He’s one of those Beltway insiders who has been around forever and, in my eyes, has very little credibility. This article is not the fresh, insightful commentary I have come to expect from “Common Sense.”
Yea, I really like CS, but if Bari’s idea of going across the political aisle is French, she needs to re-evaluate
I subscribe and have from the beginning to CS but I have always been just a bit wary of her claims to be a free speech advocate > Her efforts while at Columbia to get Muslim professor's fired for what she perceived as anti-semetic speech can be found at the the Glenn Greewalds article at the Intercept May 2018 . I read all of the writers featured on CS although I do wonder if free speech is awarded only to those who are on Bari's Rolodex.
Well, she is human. And she is the best we’ve got.
plus, she is on vacation...sooo
I don’t agree, per se. I think that this French piece, while setting in to his typical brush off of abuses by Hillary, et al it’s still good for us to read and see more than just our own right wing pundits’ yells.
The thing is though, that I can predict with 90% reliability what any article by French will say.
What I’m irritated by is that the beautiful mature advice for us all to “keep our heads” always emerges when some gestapo action is taken by the Left (Dems, Press, take your pick) or city burning , border invite for human trafficking and fentanyl, etc it’s just fine and in fact ignored. But let ANY reaction on the Right , say some parents objecting to their children being secretly doped up for gender change or indoctrinated to destroy their childhood and our reaction is regarded as just cause for the FBI to lock us up. And French will write us a dissertation on why we miss an important justification for the Dem’s objective.
Hillary must be cackling drunk right now. And if Hunter is cognizant, he’ll just grin as he gets on the Big Guy’s AF1 and go do another deal with China while the media practices “hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil”.
Hillary is making “But Her Emails” merch.
Which part of:
"I want to start with a warning. This is going to be a thoroughly unsatisfactory newsletter. I’m going to talk about the FBI search of Trump documents at Mar-a-Lago, and I’m not going to have any answers at all. I’m barely going to speculate. But I’ve seen enough sheer nonsense online that I think it’s necessary to weigh in with a few thoughts to make sense of what occurred and what happened next."
didn't you understand?
"Hi, I’m Steven, and I’ll be your server tonight. I want to start with a warning. This is going to be a thoroughly unsatisfactory meal. I’m not going to serve you any meat, fish, or vegetables. I’m barely going to feed you at all. But I’ve seen enough sheer nonsense at other restaurants that I think it’s necessary to weigh in with a few thoughts.”
Tried to give you a head's up for that morning gem but Bari's buttons don't always function.
Like when she's offering up French.
True
Great post! However, we prepaid the the meal. Do we leave a tip? ( Have at it. I wrote a hanging curveball of a comment for every to rip.)
very funny...yep
Understood all of it including the caveat at the beginning. There is no point in sharing such sloppy thinking unless it is an example of just that. The caveat should have read "This is really stupid but is intended as an example of really stupid."
What a condescending response. I agree with Jasper.
It's a rhetorical device to predict and, in French's little mind, nullify any criticism of his column right at the outset. Dumb.
His little tiny mind.
It was thoroughly unsatisfactory, and not worth the read.
Agree!
This is a very moderate, level-headed argument in this article. If you want to see hysteria go to cable news.
All this raid did was:
1. Cement Trump’s popularity with the GOP base
2. Guarantee that he is going to be the Republican candidate in 2024.
3. Shown everyone to what extents the Establishment will go to keep the Orange Man Bad out of office.
These people are banana republic thugs. Make no mistake about it.
I think it shows that no one is really in charge in Washington. Biden is fading fast, but Jill won’t let him pass the ball to Kamala. Everyone is going their own way, including some virulent Trump haters in the Justice Department.
If I were Xi, I would invade Taiwan, like, yesterday. There’s no one at home in DC.
Right. Incredibly, as of this morning, both Biden and Garland are denying knowledge of the raid. What is worse, having the AG and President not know about an action by their government that was a top of the fold headline in every media outlet in the world, or having their underlings go rogue and not bother to inform the higher ups? Either way, this is an "Afghanistan" level fuck up by Biden, again.
If Garland is telling the truth (a big IF) then he should be impeached for incompetence. How does this warrant request not make it to the FBI Director's and AG's desks? And approval for the raid?
I'm not a fan of French (GOP version of TDS) but his article usefully lays out what's known (too little) and what's speculation (too much). When he gets past that, tho ...
Unlike a lot of you, I truly appreciate BW's guts in presenting more nuanced views of current events, coming from all directions. However, I'd really appreciate a libertarian take on this and the 87K new IRS agents!
Please don’t lump me in your a lot of you group. French is a neocon forever, but I have no complaints with him as a CS contributor. The 87K armed IRS agents is the scariest news of the year. I predict many of them will engage in activities that future Presidents will maintain plausible deniability. Liberal Democrats have again added to the leviathan.
Once again it's media alarmist nonsense. There are not going to be 87K armed IRS agents. Most of the new agents will be the same as the current ones--auditing tax returns, (hopefully) improving the system enough so we can finally track our returns online, etc. It's 2022 and the IRS still does most of its work on paper--even when people file electronically. It's an agency that desperately needs to be improved and modernized.
At most the armed agents will be the ones who have to go into dangerous situations and seize property.
If one is armed that is too many. There are already too many armed agents throughout the government. They often protect the government from the people not vice versa. We need monkey pox more than another 87,000 bean counters.
Remember what Barack Obama said about Biden: “Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f#ck things up.”
So true! Current events are so unprecedented they beggar the imagination--never a good thing in the life of a country. It often signals a late stage in the life of the country . . . read memoirs of Europeans and Eastern Europeans from the 20s and 30s
Perhaps they didn’t know. They are just tools for the permanent bureaucracy. The raid is proof of brazenness of the Deep State.
China, Iran, Russia, and all of America's enemies, have a time sensitive (expiring) opportunity to make hay, as long as the current administration is in power. They will probably act sooner rather than later, and the US has already used up much of its dry powder to respond.
...and all of its Fuel Reserve...
Ikr? Since when has Pelosi been the ardent supporter of democracy overseas?
She’s the ardent supporter of her own stock options, and her son’s business interests in lithium. Nice of her to take him along on her official trip to Taiwan, a major manufacturer of lithium batteries.
Could be China can't afford to aid Russia's war with Ukraine and invade Taiwan at the same time
Xi is probably wondering what the November elections would look like, if he did invade. Rightly wondering.
It's not about Trump. It's about ANYONE who supports Trump. Flynn, Papadapolus, Page, Manafort, Bannon, .....
And yes, I do believe that if allowed to continue, they will include anyone on any comment site that criticizes dear government in that dragnet.
As Trump says, “They’re not after me, they’re after you, I am just in the way”……and everyday it feels just like that….
87,000 new, armed IRS agents to audit anyone who's made any "problematic" comments.
Unfortunately, people have famously short memories, especially about things like this. It would have been better if the FBI had done the raid even closer to the midterms, but we take what we can get. Bush I’s war in Iraq made him a very popular star, but that was over a year before the ‘92 election. That gave him plenty time to break with his “read my lips” pledge not to raise taxes. Enter Bubba.
At least we’re less than 90 days from midterms. Hopefully the news cycle won’t suddenly shout, “squirrel!” to distract voters from this past Monday.
4. Once again make Trump the entire news cycle 24/7.
When Biden was elected I wondered to myself, "how will they continue the Trump Hate Show when he is out of the picture?"
The answer is that he will never be out of the picture. They won't allow it.
The mainstream media quite literally depends on making Trump the center of the news.
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/the-trump-bump
I've recognized that for years, and sincerely can't understand why the Weisses don't see it.
That was a good article.
Thank you, your support means the world to me.
This is, I think, the only reason they haven't had Trump assassinated. They need him as their scapegoat. He is the only target big enough to keep everyone who votes Blue on the same page.
They just can't help themselves.
Imagine for one moment that the Drive-Bys had ignored Trump after 2020.
I don't mind COVID so much these days but I sure do miss living in a world that didn't constantly revolve around Donald Trump.
first they have to find Bi-det and will his handlers let him speak ?? Not much worth reporting . Trump generates revenue for the "media"
Yes. Matt Taibbi did a piece a few days ago whose basic point was that the left media seem to be doing everything they can to make Trump the GOP nominee. It's not impossible that this is the Deep State's contribution to that cause.
This is a wheels within wheels sort of thing. Do the dems want Trump to be the next GOP candidate or not? To answer that, you'd have to know what they thought of his chances.
But against whom? Will they even consider letting Biden run again? If it were a matchup between the two, would there be a replay of 2020? And if not Biden, then who? Michelle? Kamala? Gruesome? Hillary yet again, for Pete's sake?? Lots and lots of moving pieces here.
And then, what October surprises would come up?
The hatred of Trump by the deep state is so great I'm not sure they can be rational enough to plan this out. McConnell and Pelosi, on the other hand...
Good summary of where we are at this point, but one big thing that you didn't address is the insistence by the FBI that Trump's lawyers be kept from observing the search, and also the reported demand that security cameras be turned off (which I believe the employees at MAL refused to do). That seems highly unusual, and even more so in a case with such political volatility. I would think, if you're taking the unprecedented step of raiding a former President, that you would want to make sure you do everything by the book. But expelling the attorneys on hand and trying to shut off cameras sure makes it seem like something fishy is going on. Why on earth would you do that, and risk the inevitable firestorm and accusations of potentially planting "evidence", if everything is above-board? The FBI has lost all institutional trust they may have once had, and they certainly don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.
As for your last paragraph, urging people to "keep their heads about them", I think that is going to fall flat with a lot of people (it certainly does with me). This is an organization that has demonstrated again and again over the last six (or sixty) years that they are political police that operate at the discretion of the Democrat party. This is truly a Rubicon moment, and Caesar is marching on Rome. Would you tell Cato the Younger to "stay calm, just see how this plays out" when legions arrive at Rome's doorstep? No, that would be foolish, because we aren't waiting for the FBI to reveal whether or not they are political actors. They already revealed that in 2016.
To be clear: the burden is NOT on the American people to remain calm and level-headed when confronted with a desperate, brazen power grab. The burden is on the DOJ/FBI to prove to the people that this isn't what it so clearly seems to be. The federal government writ large seems to have forgotten that it exists to serve the people of this country, not the other way around. We have reached a crisis in the United States of America, and I see no way forward for this great country unless and until the entrenched bureaucracy is cast out on their ass. We can do it with schedule F in two years, or with a guillotine in 10. It's up to them.
The FBI has failed to apprehend literally dozens of major criminals about whom it had advance warning: the Orlando shooter, the Parkville shooter, the Boston Marathon bombers, and many others... In some cases they even had arrested the future shooter then let him go (Orlando, for example). Any ordinary citizen could have done a better job than the FBI did.
They are an incompetent organization, only good at theatrical shows like busting down an old man's door at 6am and duck-walking him in shackles to jail after frisking his wife in her nightgown. This, they're very good at. They are very good at "sending a message": don't mess with us or you'll be next.
But actual, dangerous criminals? Very poor record these last 20-30 years. The old FBI that took down major mobsters back in the day is long gone. In my opinion, the FBI should be shut down as a dangerous, extra-legal armed organization that is a threat to innocent Americans.
Dr. Larry Nasser.....the pedo doctor to our Olympic gymnasts! Disgusting how feckless the FBI is.
Brilliant summary--I would only quibble with the word "seems"--otherwise a fine statement of the peril to our Constitutional liberties as American citizens if we remain passive: "To be clear: the burden is NOT on the American people to remain calm and level-headed when confronted with a desperate, brazen power grab. The burden is on the DOJ/FBI to prove to the people that this isn't what it so clearly seems to be. The federal government writ large seems to have forgotten that it exists to serve the people of this country, not the other way around. We have reached a crisis in the United States of America, and I see no way forward for this great country unless and until the entrenched bureaucracy is cast out on their ass. We can do it with schedule F in two years, or with a guillotine in 10. It's up to them."
Remember when dis-Hon. Sen. H. Reid, D-NV stated "I think the people work for the government."
That was a rare, probably accidental, moment of honesty from a then leader of the Democrat party.
My father used say that he worked for the government from January to June, after which he was allowed to take home his earnings for his family, the rest being taxed away.
I don't actually remember that, but it reinforces my suspicion that the phrase of the century will be, "Saying the quiet part out loud".
What is schedule f?
My understanding is that it’s a possible executive order that would reclassify a large number of executive branch bureaucrats to make them at-will employees, so that they could be fired. I believe currently they can only be fired for cause.
Excellent! Good to know, thanks. I can only add that public unions are oxymoronic.
I never believed Trump’s conspiracy theories: fake news, deep state etc. I’ve been proven wrong on every theory. Given the Russia collusion fiasco, the FBI needs a higher and more transparent public standard because they have proven to be corrupt.
This insider piece rationalizes what happened earlier in the week without taking into account the Publix’s growing mistrust of government agencies.
An FBI which had had no blemishes over the past few years maybe could do this and be owed our trust. Not this FBI or this DOJ. Nobody is above the law etc, etc, etc... Trump imo is clearly a guy who has done something at some point worthy of jail time. But nobody has the trust anymore to investigate him. It would be better for us all of Biden pardoned him of any past crimes and moved on to beating him politically.
Clearly nobody has faith he can.
What "clearly" has Trump done to deserve jail time? Be specific. And don't forget to contrast what he's done with what every other President has done, and explain why Trump, of all of them, deserves jail time.
Joe Biden is also clearly a guy who is guilty imo. Probably more so than Trump with worse crimes. This goes back to my point of not this DOJ and not this FBI. It’s not evenly applied and it’s clearly targeting one side.
That being said Trump is no angel. I voted for him twice but I’m not going to pretend to be blind.
Just repeating liberal talking points with no factual basis does nothing to move me. I'm waiting for actual crimes. Saying "Biden had worse crimes" makes it sound as if you are aware of crimes Trump has committed, but let's talk about Biden now because you are unable to mention Trump's alleged wrongdoings. Sorry, I don't let people off the hook that easily. Trump has committed no crimes, period. Biden the senator sexually assaulted an aide and got away, scot-free. Biden transported his son on official government aircraft to places like China and Ukraine, where his son engaged in dirty business dealings such as influence peddling, and, so far, has gotten away scot-free. Those are crimes. Can you imagine if one of Trump's children had done same? They'd long since be in prison, Trump and his children both.
Yeah imagine Kushner was doing a lot of business in Saudi Arabia on the back of his official appointment. 😂
I’m not going to and try to convince you of anything. No matter what sort of list I put together you wouldn’t budge.
Let’s just agree to both dislike Biden
Oh, we can agree to dislike Biden. That's a no-brainer.
But I'm still waiting for the dirt on the Trumps. I suspect I'll be waiting for the next decade.
Lorn...surely, while being the Badge Man for 500 businesses, somebody GOTS to find Fault...come to think, you could have the answer as to why people have such problems.
Wow, Terry - Lorn didn't even try!
That is the Deep State's secret to success. They engage in such absurd plots and machinations that, to even suggest such things out loud, reek of "conspiracy theory". That is, until you take a step backward and gain some perspective and realize that's exactly what they've been doing -- and getting away with. They will destroy anyone who gets in their way, Trump being their most vocal and influential foe.
You must live in Florida, Rob.
Because your comment auto corrected “public’s” to “Publix.”
Ha ha. Thanks for noticing. I think it’s a w o k e non-binary auto spelling for public (e.g. Latinx)
All you have to do is quickly peruse David French's twitter account to confirm his "never Trumper" bias. He's not the type of writer I subscribe to read in Common Sense.
wadr, the problem with today's 'journalism' is that's it's nothing more than an RNC or DNC infomercial. Nobody get's exposed to both sides of issues anymore. I appreciate Bari having a variety of sources even if I read them and think the position that the author takes is assholic.
There is such a thing as piercing, insightful analysis and commentary. However, French and some of these other left wingers she's been bringing in are intellectual lightweights, a waste of time in my opinion.
But French is not worth reading…
Good point.
French is virulently anti-Trump - he writes for another anti-Trumper Jonah Goldberg’s ‘Dispatch’ which is highly unreadable blather.’
After reading David French I feel a need to cleanse the palate. He's absolutely terrible!
French comes from the George Conway school of thought.
LOL Funny, not funny.
I wasn't a big fan of Kelly Ann Conway but grew immensely in my respect/regard for her after listening to her interview on Megyn Kelly's podcast. She talked about George walking off the cliff (my phrasing) on this hatred for Trump and being totally blindsided by it. It continues to this day. It's worth a listen. Episode 330.
This article by French belongs in the NYT or Wash Post. Bari please don't foist David French on us. The armed visit by an American Gestapo to investigate a former President on not preserving government documents but really on a fishing expedition for a smoking gun related to January 6th is something I would expect from El Salvador. Bananas anyone??
I suspect even the NYT and WaPo wouldn't accept this drivel for publication. Well, maybe the WaPo would. They publish pretty much any garbage these days.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aSJvnCm_fcE8dELxBE4OqGGDEw4GIFs5/view?usp=drivesdk
Did the Washington Post buy Substack yesterday?
It's a shame that despite Bari's efforts to show all points of view, she must default again and again to the Never Trump Republicans. Why not get someone to write something that lives outside of that insulated bubble? I get that you don't want to be accused of being a Trump supporter but in this case, you folks are neutral voices where we need stronger ones.
Ten points:
1) They have been chasing Trump for six long years, all to undo the results of the 2016 election, and in so doing, have revealed themselves to be hypocrites of the highest order. This Trump hunt makes the Bill Clinton hunt look like child's play.
2) The response to what is happening now is fear, disgust, anger from those who are not inside the isolated bunker of the left. Those inside just want the monster taken out of Purity Village. They don't care how it's done. They just want him gone. The Joy Behars, the Rob Reiners, the Stephen Colberts, the super powerful blue-checks on Twitter whose nonstop attacks have only made Trump more popular. So now they turn into the Gestapo and all of you ruminate with the same pointless questions, parroting the same old useless trope, "no one is above the law." No one deserves this level of persecution for the crime of winning an election as an outsider.
3) They've launched a systematic dehumanization campaign against Trump and his supporters for years which, frankly, is something all of us should object to. The worst crimes in history have come when one powerful side dehumanizes another powerless side. It started with mocking Trump's hair, his weight, his hands, his relationship with his wife and his daughter. There was no bottom. Then, because they could not destroy him that way, they impeached him, investigated him, cherry picked everything he said and blew it up into something he never said. They have revealed their motives again and again. How can anyone take this MADNESS seriously by now?
4) When standard humiliation and "he's a racist" didn't work, it then escalated to a "white supremacist army angry at the black and brown people in power." Many of you genuinely believe that, even though Trump continues to attract Hispanic, Asian and Black voters. You also can't seem to notice that the mass hysteria we're living through right now that is driving so much of "cancel culture" madness is because of the insanity rising on the Left, much of it in response to Trump. So the constant hysteria driven by the Left is the very same thing destroying them. The media now is driving yet more fear of Trump supporters. Don't you all see where this is going?
5) Working class Americans look to Trump because he is the only person in power who sees them at all, let alone fights for them. That clearly pisses off the Democrats since they've all but abandoned the working class. But they can't let go of their power. They won't be satisfied -- Rachel Maddow won't be satisfied -- until Trump is frog-marched off in an orange jumpsuit. THAT is what has become of the once mighty left. They have nothing to sell but fear.
6) Trump supporters are mostly non-violent. But now, thanks to Jan 6th our government (and the Never Trumpers like you all) has become emboldened, Reichstag Fire-like, to take action against its own citizens. Parents at school boards, mistreatment of the Jan. 6th prisoners, Trump's lawyers and other staff - and now Trump himself. It is WRONG. Stop saying "no American is above the law" when plenty of the most powerful absolutely are. Political persecution of this magnitude is UNAMERICAN. Go ahead and say it outright. Stop dancing around what is obvious to everyone but those inside their protected cocoon.
7) They banned Trump from Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. They disinvite him from all official government events, treating him and his millions of supporters, like they are not part of this country. How do you all think that plays among the millions who have been abandoned by THEM? Do you think they are supportive of such actions?
8) Despite everything they've tried to do, they still haven't shut him up or shut him down. Despite 100% media bias against Trump his movement is stronger than ever. That should send them a strong message about THEIR message. This action only makes things worse for THEM. And honesty, I'm finding it difficult right now to figure out why I should support any of them. I am starting to think this country needs them all out of power if it is survive this moment.
9) When is enough enough? What's next, gulags? Will you all still scratch your chins and say hmmmmm. I don't want to sound like a Trump supporter so I better say nothing. What they have already done to Jan 6th prisoners - throwing them in solitary, smearing them as racists, not to mention eliminating due process with the Primetime hearings, convicting Trump in the court of public opinion with no defense and now this? Can't you see this as a dangerous escalation? THEY are the threats to Democracy Itself.
10) This is purely political. No country persecutes their political enemies AFTER they have left office, in case they decide to run again. My god, when does it end? I can't even decide which of the powerful forces in our government has become more dangerous -- the Bush/Cheney empire or the Clinton/Obama/Biden empire. They all seem perfectly willing to subvert OUR democracy to serve their own ends and cling to power. It's disgraceful.
Why are they so afraid of Trump? Because they are afraid of someone who is not afraid of them. They are afraid of someone who says whatever he wants to say at a time of extreme thought and speech policing. They are afraid of a grass movement they no longer have. They are afraid of someone who has the kind of charisma that wins elections, which they no longer have.
I guess I always expect more from Bari and Common Sense. But in the end, if you can't cross the Trump line, you will never get the story. You think that all you have to do is stop the "woke" revolution with think pieces of like-minded sophisticates. You haven't yet realized that it's all the same thing. The reason Trump is getting MORE popular, not less, is that sometimes you need a Churchill, not a Chamberlain. We don't have enough Churchills.
Brava Sasha.
X 10,000
You should have written this piece. Great comment.
*stands up and claps furiously*
Wow! Fantastic commentary. Thank you Sasha!
Brilliantly summarized Sasha. I don't know why some people who should know better by now refuse to see what is staring them right in the face.
I grew up in Providence, RI and spent most of life in College Park, Maryland so I know what it's like to be surrounded by people of a differing political persuasion. Things have gotten quite a bit worse in the last few years however. It is sad to think that your political views might influence the type of care you receive but unfortunately it is not an unrealistic worry. I now reside in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia so I can be more open about my politics.
Thank you. We are truly in the upside down. The distrust created by the Garland DOJ will not soon be dissipated . As we wait for Garland’s press conference right now, we can only imagine what they are cooking up to quell the outrage every American is currently feeling.
If only every American were outraged. Millions of Americans are cheering this on.
Sasha...here comes Churchill! With Experience...now. thanks.
Wow-this comment says it all in a nutshell. Thank you Sasha!
Awesome.
Damn! Good job! I was ready for a 6 pack of fish tank cleaner at point #3.
that to get the taste of your mate out of your mouth ? Be it he she or it?
that there is why i canceled my paid sub-scription tired of the hidden one sided message
'Just another reminder: Trump has a copy of the warrant, which will include what they searched for and what crimes they believe were broken. He can release it whenever he wants.'
Several different sources contradicted this yesterday. They said the FBI presented the warrant for Trump's attorney to read, but didn't allow it to be copied, and took it with them when they left. Who knows what actually happened?
As usual, the big lie lives. Believe nothing the Democrats and their media cronies say.
The warrant may have been sealed and even if it has not Trump's lawyer have reviewed it now and indicate it was vaguely worded and the predicate describing the probable cause for issuing it has been redacted.
I think the fact that Garland is now doing the Sgt. Schultz routine and claiming he didn't know the raid was going to go down indicates the DOJ likely has no confidence that it would stand up to scrutiny.
Which would indicate to me that this isn't really about the records, but more about a fishing expedition to support Jan 6 charges, or simply to get the heat off Garland, who's been accused by the progs of not being harder on DJT.
Do you have a link for the Garland didn't know comments. So far I haven't been able to find a comment by Garland.
I am curious about how documents are managed at the WH and National Archives. How could top secret documents walk out the WH door with Trump? Aren’t there safeguards that keep track of top secret stuff? Or maybe what’s in these boxes isn’t really top secret but we are being told they are so Trump looks bad.
If Trump was keeping self-incriminating stuff why wouldn’t he scrub it, ya, know with bleach, like Hillary did?
Why was it necessary to bring armed FBI agents to retrieve boxes? Was that for photo ops?
I read Jonathan Turley’s article that an FBI raid wasn’t even necessary. Say Trump refused to return the documents. The next step would be a special prosecutor. Going full armed FBI was shocking and out of proportion.
There is a democrat motive here and I don’t think we see all the cards in their hand.
His staff has been cooperating with requests to return material. This is all just political theater, designed to "make Trump unelectable". As is the New York AG's crusade.
I think it is likely that if Trump did have classified documents. The information contained in them is damaging to the Intelligence agencies themselves. Why else would they want them so badly?
Good point. But did he declassify them while still President?
Apparently he declassified massive amounts of documents before leaving office. At least according to Kash Patel (Chief of Staff to Trump's Sec'y of Defense) who was interviewed by Seb Gorka a few weeks ago. John Solomon of JusttheNews.com also reported this. I don't recall the specifics, but apparently there was some discussion that Trump's direction to declassify was ignored by subordinates, or possibly that staff at the National Archives later "reclassified" some of the documents after Trump left office... (speculating here, but "reclassified" at whose direction?) Lots of speculation that the documents in question exposed corruption within the intelligence community.
I couldn't find that interview, but here's a link to a short piece from justthenews.com from today:
https://justthenews.com/podcasts/kash-patel-offers-trump-defense-he-may-have-already-verbally-declassified-documents-doesnt
My understanding is that part of the issue is that some if not all of this material was packed by GAO staff in the final days or even hours before Trump had to vacate the White House. Having moved a few times I have a feeling by that point the highest priority was getting this stuff into those boxes with little regard to what was being removed. People acting like Trump or his people were meticulously selecting critical documents for removal are mostly blowing smoke. Reports coming out now indicate the discussions between Trump and the National Archives are over such important documents as napkins and menus from White House functions.
A report I read somewhere mentions some of it was correspondence, including a letter from B. Obama. Hardly the level of nuclear secrets.
You’d have to believe that Trump packed up all his belongings himself and carried them out to a PODS container.
Glad your not worried about civil war, maybe you should worry about criminalizing domestic opposition and the abuse of state power to affect elections.
It’s very troubling - one reason I watched the January 6th hearings so closely was to learn how Trump tried to do that.
So if the Biden administration tried to hastily cobble together a case to kneecap Trump out of fear he would declare his candidacy soon, heads should roll.
So what did you learn from the Jan 6 hearings?
Not much I didn’t already know: Donald Trump is an un-American thug who should have never come within sniffing distance of power. But like any other gangster, he is entitled to the defenses of our legal and constitutional system, and it would be a dangerous abuse if those were suspended to go after him here. If. Remains to be seen what exactly went down.
This is moral judgement, not information. Sounds like you learned nothing and just deepened your irrational hatred of the man, which was the entire point of the phony "investigation."
I figured it was more expedient to share my conclusions. The particulars that I learned were that his inner circle were constantly threatening resignation to keep him from taking extreme steps that would have seriously imperiled the country, that Mike Pence was under even more direct threat than we had previously known from media reporting and still understood what his duty was under the law, that Trump expressed specific frustration that his people were not able to get violent and threaten the Capitol rather than, as I had previously thought, that he just wanted them to be heard to show how much they loved him and soothe his wounded ego or whatever. I learned that a sitting President betrayed his oath to the Constitution and to the country, that any functioning political system would have impeached him, and that anyone like you who still has their head in the sand about this has let their partisan rage run away with their brains just as surely as any TDS-afflicted democrat screaming at the sky.
Oh! I almost forgot...
14. They called Ashley Babbit's murder "heroism" less than a year after they praised riots over police brutality during a pandemic lockdown. I will never forgive the Democrats for that. It was absolutely, unequivocally evil.
15. They kept on lying about Sicknick being killed by protestors months and months after the truth had already come out.
"Trump expressed specific frustration that his people were not able to get violent and threaten the Capitol"
That is a complete lie. Both before and during the riot he explicitly called for calm and peace.
Here's what I learned from the J6 hearings:
1. It has no legislative purpose and as such is completely illegal.
2. Their use of the word "insurrection" is a willful, divisive, inflammatory lie, and people like you believe their lies
3. Their major "bombshell" testimony was third party hearsay that proves to be false. After five years of phony "bombshell" revelations, Democrats will still fall for the same lies and rhetorical tactics, because they choose to.
4. The J6 committee brazenly edited Trump's texts. They doctored their "evidence" in plain site. They are brazen lies. Democrats don't care
5. They are dragging the show out as long as possible.
6. It was conceived from the outset as made-for-TV Reality Government, produced by the same company that did a two year investigation into Epstein and then buried it because they came up with incriminating evidence on Bill Clinton.
7. They lied about Trump saying Mike Pence should be hanged.
8. They lied about Ray Epps. I really can't say this one enough. It's so brazen and so obvious that Epps was a plant and they're protecting him. Again, Democrats simply don't care what the truth is.
9. They made no effort at all to explain the lack of Capitol Hill security, and they were dishonest about Trump repeatedly offering to put more law enforcement in the way of his own "insurrection."
10. Every single person on that committee spread lies and conspiracy theories about Trump for years. Again, Democrats simply don't care how much damage their divisive lies do.
11. Every person on the committee was specifically selected by Pelosi, one of the most partisan and deceitful politicians in my lifetime.
12. Their while purpose was to prove Trump's guilt, and they had to lie over and over to try to do it.
13. People like you simply don't care what the truth is, and never will.
More likely You and Terry are DTS. That's the opposite of TDS. It means Deranged Trump Supporters. Moral judgment? I call it a judgment on the man's character, which is below zero. DTSs won't see it that way, because they can't see except outta the far-right eye.
you watched a well packaged hit piece put together by some 1/2 assed producers . They showed what they wanted cut whatever did not jibe with their version of what happened
thousands of hours of videos not released by the "select committee". They don't want people to see what really happened... or did not happen... that day.
You're probably wrong.
got one thing Right... bees Wrong
my question...also.
I am dying to hear just what El Trumpty should/could have done, once the building was breached...and so funny, once their was testimony "DRiver said No Go to the March, Donald", just what should HE have adjusted...flextime.
No doubt this is a perilous time. We are being controlled and have been for a long time. We can keep our heads about us to understand that we have become a Third World Country for long enough to understand our government is in the pockets of the globalists has sold out the American people and no longer even pretends to care if we know it. How to tell when we are being serially abused and played. You dismiss serious political thought being discussed here on SubStack and on our current town square (the internet) as if it were inconsequential. MSM has been thoroughly bought and sold to the highest bidder. Wow.
If it weren’t for the obvious DOJ favoritism toward Hunter Biden, the DOJ failure to prosecute mishandling classified material by Hillary Clinton, the failure to enforce laws protecting Supreme Court justices from “parading and intimidation” by protestors, the failure to prosecute James Comey for leaking classified information to the media, the lies and misrepresentations in FISA warrant applications to surveil Carter Page, the restoration of bar privileges to Kevin Clinesmith, the entire Mueller “investigation of Russian collusion,” and the absolute abrogation of the duty to enforce immigration law, I would have complete faith in the integrity of the DOJ and the FBI.
But there are just too many things we can’t unsee.
Indeed. How does French miss the in-our-face-evidence that some people ARE above the law? And they all happen to be on Team Never Trump. Like he is. Oh wait—I think I answered my own question.
Lady...another Great State... and where is Ray Epps?