During the second debate of the 2016 election, after the FBI turned loose on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump vowed that if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to go after her on the email scandal.
Did you ever wonder why he didn’t?
Donald Trump Continues to Make Promises of Prosecution
We don’t know what happened. But it’s likely after his election, Trump brought it up to his first Attorney General Jeff Sessions, maybe he also pushed it with the White House counsel and other advisors. They most likely told him it would be too norm-breaking, and carry the appearance of jailing a political opponent. High risk, low reward. Worse, it would play into the hands of his enemies who accused him of wanting to be a dictator. So, he waved it off and moved on.
In his post-arraignment rally in June, Trump vowed if elected again, “I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden and the entire Biden crime family.”
The Biden administration did not show the same restraint the Trump administration did. If Trump is re-elected in 2024, and polls suggest he could be, is there any reason not to keep the pledge this time?
With Donald Trump and what might collectively be called the Washington Swamp, it’s not always easy to tell who is the devil–even when it’s clear neither side is an angel.
It Slices Both Ways
Don’t count me among those who believed the Swamp fears Trump–thinking that he alone can expose their nice racket and dismantle the administrative state. The obsession to get Trump is because they detest him so much, they’ve become irrational about it and haven’t stopped to consider the boomerang effect.
The famous dialogue from the film, “A Man for All Seasons,” about British lawyer Saint Thomas More, is entirely applicable to the Orange-Man-Bad brigade.
In one scene, More’s wife says of an unappealing individual, “Arrest him.”
Thomas More asked, “For what?” Her reply, “He’s dangerous.” More’s daughter later chimes in, “Father, he’s a bad man.” To which More replies, “There’s no law against that.”
A frustrated William Roper, another English lawyer, asks, “Now you’d give the Devil benefit of law!” When More answered, “Yes,” Roper indignantly asserts, “I’d cut down every law in England” to get the devil.
More responds, “And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned around on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? … Do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”
Media Out for Donald Trump
Today, the primal cries of MSNBC and CNN pundits are to “arrest him.” When Trump was president, it was “impeach him–for something.” Then and now Trump haters say, “He’s dangerous.” If pressed, Trump’s enemies would insist he is “a bad man,” and petty laws shouldn’t protect him.
In the “get-Trump” fervor, the Left hasn’t cut down every law. But they have cut down a major political norm of the party in power not turning the Justice Department against political rivals–they have at least taken it to a new degree.
Did Trump Actually Show Restraint in his Administration?
Aside from the nonsensical tweets, petulant name-calling, and constant self-sabotage, Trump showed immense restraint during his four years as president in following the norms of a democratic republic.
Despite The Washington Post’s daily warnings of a dying democracy–the truth is Trump couldn’t even get a grip over his own bureaucracy, much less dismantle it.
Yes, he contested the 2020 election outcome–first through the courts and later based on an idiotic legal theory in Congress. He showed extraordinarily poor, ego-driven, and morally-questionable judgment in waiting so long to call off the Capitol rioters on Jan. 6, 2021. If those were criminal acts, perhaps special counsel Jack Smith will build a case
During Trump’s actual presidency, none of those dire warnings of an autocrat ever came to fruition.
At this juncture, it’s the Biden Justice Department who broke the glass, charging Trump with the same crime the Justice Department opted not to charge Hillary Clinton with back in 2016.
If Donald Trump is re-elected president in 2024, he still won’t go as far as tinfoil-wearing-hat MSNBC hosts say. But he will have little reason to not use the Justice Department to go after political enemies.
And it will be tough to justifiably blame him since he’s not the one who cut down the norms.
Barbara Joanna Lucas is a writer and researcher in Northern Virginia. She has been a healthcare professional, political blogger, is a proud dog mom, and news junkie. Follow her on Twitter @BasiaJL.
From 19FortyFive
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