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Democrats have long used lawfare to sideline conservatives, but the incoming Trump administration, with Sen. Chuck Grassley's help, will end this abuse.Lawfare (sanctioned fraud by law enforcement) is antithetical to the Bill of Rights, which assumes government nefariousness. Lawfare flourishes thanks to qualified immunity, an artificial (i.e., not in the Constitution) concept conjured by the Supreme Court to insulate rogue cops, prosecutors, and judges.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley — President pro tempore of the Senate and third in the line of presidential succession after the Vice President and Speaker of the House — at the Attorney General’s January 15 nomination hearing (this is a lengthy quotation but so meaty it doesn’t yield to cutting or summarizing):
The Justice Department’s infected with political decision-making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality. Crossfire Hurricane was a textbook example of government weaponization. That FBI investigation was built on the fake Steele Dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton Campaign who worked with foreign operatives. My investigative work exposed that the FBI knew the dossier was false information and was likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Even with knowledge of the dossier’s defects and political infection, the Justice Department sought FISA warrant renewals and took other actions. After directing my oversight staff to investigate the Justice Department’s mishandling of the matter, the Justice Department retaliated by issuing a subpoena for their phone records.
Then, a few of my Democratic colleagues pressured the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force to supposedly brief me and Senator Johnson relating to our Biden family investigation. In August 2020, Senator Johnson and I had that infamous briefing from the FBI. Later, its contents were leaked to the media even though the FBI had promised confidentiality. That leak falsely labeled our oversight work as – you guessed it – Russian disinformation. To this day – over four years later – the Intelligence Community and FBI refuse to provide us the intelligence basis for that briefing. The title of this Wall Street Journal article sums it up, “The FBI’s Dubious Briefing: Did the bureau set up two GOP Senators at the behest of Democrats?”
I know what government weaponization is. And then we get to Special Counsel Jack Smith and his lawfare operation. It involved an unprecedented FBI raid on Trump’s house, including agents that even searched the former First Lady’s clothing drawers. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden certainly didn’t receive the same treatment by the government regarding their records. Indeed, as my oversight exposed, the FBI amazingly agreed to destroy laptops and records associated with Clinton’s staff. This Orwellian conduct should have no quarter. On top of it all, FBI Special Agent Thibault, the anti-Trump agent that violated the Hatch Act for political activity on the job, started one of Jack Smith’s cases.
But, Jack Smith wasn’t the only Department official who tried to influence this past election. The Washington Post reported last August about a previously undisclosed Mueller investigation into Trump that was closed for lack of evidence and it being a “fishing expedition.” That news reporting was based on sealed court records, government records, and potentially classified information roughly 90 days before the last presidential election. The Justice Department leaked that information to the press to impact the election against President Trump. And they did it while stiff-arming congressional requests for information that would prove embarrassing to the Biden-Harris administration.
Let us not forget some of the other flagrant abuses of power that we’ve seen from the DOJ and the FBI over the last four years:
- The DOJ used the might of the Federal Government to prosecute individuals peacefully praying outside of abortion clinics.
- The FBI suggested that traditional Catholics could be domestic terrorism threats, claiming that these individuals adhere to “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT and white supremacy ideology.”
- The FBI opened dozens of investigations into parents who voiced their concerns at school board meetings regarding curriculum choices and COVID-19 mandates.
- The FBI applied undue pressure to social media platforms to censor so-called “misinformation,” downgrading or removing flagged social media posts and removing users.
These are only a few particularly egregious examples of the rot infesting the DOJ. The impact of this political infection in our once-storied law enforcement institutions is catastrophic. By every metric, the Biden-Harris Justice Department’s conduct has failed to live up to our country’s ideals.
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We are witnessing the initiation of America’s truth and reconciliation process. Grassley’s comments stand as a bookmark separating two eras. He de facto swore out a warrant against the guilty. Under (almost certainly) incoming FBI Director Patel, an extensive and essential glasnost (openness) episode will precede wholesale perestroika (reform). Trump’s Patel nomination ranks among his best. As chief aide to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Patel oversaw exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. He is the man for this moment.
Before entering political office, Grassley worked as a farmer and factory worker. He’s continuously represented Iowa constituents for 66 years, since 1959. First as a state legislator, then in the House, and now in the Senate. The Republic began 236 years ago in 1789. Grassley has represented his constituents 28% of America’s duration. He is the oldest current senator, has served 44 years in that body, and is the longest-serving Republican in congressional history. Over his 91 years, he has lived 38% of America’s duration. (Most unusual of late, his marbles are intact.) Grassley has witnessed plenty of funny business, yet nothing like the organized crime of Biden’s Department of “Justice.”
Qualified immunity exists for valid reasons. Yet, as a practical matter, rogue state and federal prosecutors almost never face criminal or financial repercussions. Prosecutorial abuse is hardly new, especially targeting Republicans.
Alaska’s Ted Stevens was corruptly prosecuted, causing the loss of his Senate seat.
The story of federal prosecutor and special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is especially notable. He persecuted vice-presidential chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (no choir boy, but a Democrat who ran afoul of Obama), and conservative media mogul Conrad Black. FBI Director Comey, when fired by Trump, then retained Fitzgerald as his counsel. As Acting Attorney General, Comey appointed Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to investigate the Valerie Plame affair that snared Libby. Trump, all too familiar with lawfare, pardoned Blagojevich, Libby, and Black, fellow victims.
Redress is long overdue for corrupt law enforcement officials, ensuring they face civil (including financial compensation to victims) and criminal consequences. The Innocence Project‘s workload involves corrupt prosecutors and police targeting those on society’s lowest rungs. Defendants routinely face uneven playing fields, in violation of constitutional norms. The problem is chronic and widespread, impacting all levels. Those with political standing too often become targets as a result.
The imminent glasnost has profound implications. Dismantling the J6 gulag is merely reconciliation’s first step. The secrets spilling out will accelerate the political realignment, including the media’s ongoing demise. Consider the consequences for the Democratic party’s smoldering ruins. The world’s oldest political party (founded to support slavery and slaughter Native Americans), is hemorrhaging voters and will begin to fatally bleed out.
Grassley provided the epitaph for an era that overturned the national compact. It falls to our representatives to rectify this deficiency via legislation or constitutional amendment. This classic Trumpian issue possesses broad bipartisan support. America’s judicial predicate is that it’s better that 10 guilty men go free than one innocent rots in prison. That was forgotten somewhere along the way.
Douglas Schwartz blogs on history, politics, economics, and gaslighting at The Great Class War.
