Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Not. One. Single. Indictment.
I started this discussion with a question such as: does this impress anyone else as beyond bizarre considering we have witnessed over the last few years; an actual attempt by an administration to use the full powers of the government to overthrow their political opponents? Then I thought better of it, as I read here on Ricochet and elsewhere, and I have also written here on Ricochet on this as well, expressions of similar concerns by many of our colleagues and, of course, in the wider center-right media as well.
Briefly stated: I arrive at this pathetic state of affairs as someone who has practiced law as a trial lawyer for more decades than I care to recount here, and have come to regard as sacred to the establishment upon which our beloved Nation is built the Rule of Law and its central tenet, Equal Justice Under Law, words which are inscribed over the Main Entrance of the United States Supreme Court.
I fear we are not only seeing clear examples, one after another, perhaps some of the most wretched and corrupt “public servants” in American history, receiving what appears to be not only favorable treatment by the institutions we entrust to enforce our laws, but blatant, outrageous, in-your-face favorable treatment, and then going on to spots on CNN or MSNBC and book tours and cushy jobs at major law firms or corporations. The list seems to be almost endless. I saw, just before jotting down these thoughts, the piece by @willowspring about Sidney Powell’s invaluable book “Licensed to Lie,” about which I have written before, urging all our colleagues to get this book for a full appreciation of the deep corruption and sleaziness of some of the players involved in the events of the recent past, and one in particular, Andrew Weissmann, who probably really ran the so-called “Mueller” investigation. People ( ? ) like Weissmann, and we all know by now the entire list of dramatis personae so there is no need to name them here, should, every single one, at least be under indictment, up to and including he for whom the Obama Administration got its name, a name which in my humble opinion will go down in history as one of the two or three most corrupt in our history.
I wish to direct your attention to an article I just saw that sums up these concerns as effectively and succinctly as any I have seen, and I have attempted to read everything about this most sordid chapter in our history as I can get my hands on. I urge all who are similarly repulsed by the disgraceful displays we are currently seeing – Comey wants an apology! Cannot make it up! – to read the article. It is quite brief, but here are some key passages:
“So far, the I.G. is batting zero on justice. The I.G. report on Hillary Clinton’s email investigation showed pervasive bias for Hillary, talk of an insurance policy should she lose, that Hillary should win “100 million to 0.” Yet in the end, Horowitz pulled a Comey, said the investigators’ hatred for Donald Trump, their loyalty to Hillary Clinton, didn’t impact their findings in any way. Huh?
But the attempted coup has been exposed, and one by one, the Deep State cronies are going down: James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper, Bill Priestap, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Jim Baker, Andrew McCabe, to name a few who have retired, been fired, or been demoted.
So our message to any future insurgents who stage a coup but fail in their efforts to illegally remove a sitting president and overthrow the United States government is, “Be forewarned: treason could cost you your job.” Oh, the humanity!”
The piece also touches upon one of my main concerns, and that is the fact that more and more we seem to be accepting this state of affairs as “just the way it’s going to be now.”
There follows a discussion of those paragons of sanctimonious self-righteousness, Hillary Clinton and James Comey, and then we get to the meat of the coconut, metaphorically speaking, an honorable member of the United States Navy, Kristian Saucier,
“…who takes a picture on a submarine goes to prison while a Washington power broker, Hillary Clinton, who intentionally exposes America’s most closely guarded secrets goes to the Hamptons.
Or a respected general, Michael Flynn, who served honorably for 30 years might be forced to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit while a connected insider, James Comey, who publicly lied under oath, bragged about leaking classified information, goes on a book tour.”
That’s why our Founding Fathers setup “a government of laws, and not of men,” as John Adams put it.”
Referring to a remark in one of the debates with the execrable Felonia von Pantsuit in which Mr. Trump indicated she should be in jail, the author concludes:
That’s the promise you must keep, Mr. President. Otherwise, all your accomplishments, the economy, our strong military, our embassy in Jerusalem, the border wall, all will be taken away when the next lawless Hillary steals an election or the next attempt to overthrow our government succeeds.Corruption in government; Equal Justice Under Law
Oh, I know: cut the drama, it’s happening, really. The bad guys are going down, justice is coming, the guilty will pay, and the check’s in the mail.
Prime Minister Thatcher famously said the problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money. It seems to me that the same idea can be adapted to the crisis of confidence we now find ourselves in: sooner or later if our institutions keep abusing our belief in their ability/intention to do anything about the many miscreants in our society, you will run out of trust. When that happens, you run out of liberty and freedom.
Published in Law
I’d say let’s see where the second IG report, involving not just Comey but everyone at the FBI and Justice involved with the investigation, ends up going, and what that report recommends. But if we’re past Election Day 2019 and Horowitz’s report still hasn’t been released, than even if it does call for action against Comey, McCabe, Strozk, etc., the window to do anything before the 2020 election starts narrowing down, and those involved, instead of possibly agreeing to be the first to work a plea deal out, might all decide to sit and wait on the election results, in hopes the Democrats win and everything gets dropped.
I’m simpatico with you here @jimgeorge could you tell us where you found that Peggy Ryan column? I’d like to read whole thing and didn’t see in noted.
I’ve been fuming about this, that Epstein thing, that all of Hillary’s emails were “cc’d” to some Chinese(?) affiliated entity?. The DNC/Awan scandal, the IRS/Tea Party Scandal, those OMB ‘Hacks’ during the Obama Reign of Error.
The only people not paying a price seem to be the ‘non-connected’.
Here you go– it was linked but maybe didn’t get into the published piece– https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/08/the_deep_state_will_face_justice_soon_right.html
I’m like you; once I start naming all these criminals I am astounded at the scope and breadth of the real scandal we are facing.
Sincerely, Jim
It really isn’t a new state of affairs but it would be nice if We the People finally noticed the rampant corruption and became more than a bit exercised by it.
Example:
All presumably with the blessing of the ethics committee. Our elected and administrative ruling class doesn’t even bother to hide their contempt for us and freely exercise their entitlement to lie, cheat, and steal right out in the open. The corruption is and has been complete…we are watching just the latest example of them flaunting it right under our nose.
This is one of the reasons we have the Second Amendment. When government refuses to uphold laws, the people are empowered to do it themselves. Contrast with Mexico, where the people are unarmed and government is unwilling/unable to uphold laws. Things can get very bad and the corruption and lawlessness of Mexico now permeates the USA. We have political elites at the top of society and illegal aliens at the bottom that are above the law. Just be sure to fully pay your taxes. Unsustainable.
I’m with you on your concerns but I am waiting for the more significant IG report and the Durham investigation.
I agree with the idea that an indictment needs to have very strong objective evidence to support guilt in an act clearly criminal before taking it before a jury in the District of Columbia. One thing I don’t like is that these criminal acts fall within the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia. That needs to be changed to some more balanced approach to get it away from the Swamp.
That was good. Summed up much of my frustration and fear.
I know that the defense can petition for a change of venue so as not to have a prejudiced jury, can the prosecution? Would love to see Grand Juries and Trial juries from the between the coasts.
I’m getting very close. I just am not sure what to do. It seems likely to me that the Democrats will not allow another loss of a Presidential election. I must keep remembering that morning in November of 2016 when I woke up to hear my life call out, “Honey you’re not going to believe it!” I knew immediately what she meant. If I had been Archimedes, I would have bolted out of the house naked, shouting Hallelujah, as I ran down the street. It was so wonderful. Boy, that seems a long time ago.
It really does seem like it was so long ago it almost seems it didn’t really happen, as if it were some kind of mirage. Now, once in a great while, when I permit myself to be bombarded by all the forthcoming “bombshells” and “this is the big ones”, etc., etc., I actually let myself feel a little sense of a smile. And, this is the reason I watch fewer and fewer of those programs, as once the panels are all through talking over each other — or much worse — absolutely nothing happens the next day!
Here’s a condition I find interesting and incongruous. Major media news outlets, political pundits, almost every elected Democrat and never-Trump Republicans have incessantly, since Trump won the 2016 election, accused him or his campaign of misbehaviors in office warranting impeachment without producing evidence to support such positions. Yet, in the face of evidence uncovered and publicly released by the IG and reports from the previous Republican Congressional committee members showing official acts that targeted President Trump fraudulently, casually dismiss these charges as a conspiracy on the right. It’s as if the Left is gaslighting the Right and if they prevail we will all be institutionalized as crazies.
Yes, these people need to be seen to pay some price for their actions. I don’t know whether perjury (lying under oath to congress or others) is a felony or not. It sounds like a relatively minor thing, but a conviction is certainly a humiliating cap to an otherwise exemplary public career. And perjury convictions should be slam dunks for most of these players.
Treason is much more serious. What kind of evidence would be required for a conviction on treason? I am serious. Do you, as a lawyer, think a provable case could be made against any of the main players, and If so, what would it look like?
Levying war against the United States, or adhering to its enemies giving them aid and comfort. There have to be two witnesses to an overt act doing either of those two things.
They’re on a crusade, and as the Don Lemons of the media world would tell you, they have to do it because it’s Trump … except that they did it 11 years ago because it was Bush, they did it seven years ago because it was Mitt, and they even did it to the most beloved Republican of his generation by the media, John McCain, as soon as Maverick was the GOP nominee against Obama.
Trump Derangenent Syndrome is really only an outgrowth of Generic Republican President/Presidential Candidate Derangement Syndrome. The GOP could nominate Bill Weld next year, with Bill Kristol as his running mate and you’d barely see a downtick in the current hysteria from the angry progressives.
Treason involves fighting on the side of the opponent in war. It is not really applicable. Seditious Conspiracy seems most applicable to me.
That said, give them the Manafort treatment. Charge them, jail without bail, solitary confinement and then bankrupt them.
Well, at least those two deserve it.
It’s important to remember the purpose of the IG. To investigate and define the who, what, when, where and how. While the IG can have an opinion on WHY, it’s not dispositive. Taking action is the job of executive branch officials. Officials who are, in theory, accountable to the voters.
We all want instant gratification. That’s not the way things work in a republic.
Plan for the worst. Pray for the best. Keep your powder dry.
An article just appeared on Canada Free Press by Lee Cary which reflects the feelings of many Americans about the collapse in ethics we see all across the board. It is entitled The Erosion of Confidence in American Justice and can be found here. After seeing out a very interesting brief history of the phrase “with liberty and justice for all” in the Pledge of Allegiance, the author goes on to note a conversation on Fox News recently between Jason Chaffetz and former Congressman Trey Gowdy about the IG report on the single most sanctimonious man in Washington, the formerly exalted Mr. Comey (Mrs. Clinton has that category locked up for her side of the equation, it goes without saying), and made an interesting observation about the mindset of Mr. Gowdy and those of like minds:
He follows with this very cogent reflection on this mindset, which sums up my attitude precisely and, it would appear from reading the comments here and elsewhere, many others as well:
Amen!
Sincerely, Jim
Sorry, forgot link: https://canadafreepress.com/article/the-erosion-of-confidence-in-american-justice
Jim, I am not that hopeful for any IG report. Horowitz is a Sessions guy and has proven he will willfully ignore criminal wrong doing by the FBI and DOJ.
All that said, there is still the Durham investigation – it is the one with the real teeth. There will be a drip, drip, drip of emails and so forth that will implicate Comey and friends over the next few months. The pressure will build to prosecute the miscreants. Keep your powder dry for now.
Jim, A little encouragement from Thomas Farnan at American Greatness in:
“Comey Escaped This Time But His Day Should Come”
“Lost in the reaction to the news that former FBI Director James Comey will not be prosecuted for being an insufferable jerk is that the inspector general established, once and for all, that yes, James Comey is in fact an insufferable jerk.
Which means, at a minimum, Trump was right to fire him.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller could not decide whether firing Comey violated federal laws against obstruction of justice. Inspector General Michael Horowitz answered that question with a resounding, “Are you kidding me, Bob?” He wrote:”
“Comey violated FBI policy and the requirements of his FBI Employment Agreement . . . Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees . . . Comey’s closest advisors used the words “surprised,” “stunned,” “shocked,” and “disappointment” to describe their reactions to learning what Comey had done.”
“This is only the leak case, remember: the one where Comey got the New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC to report his psycho-fantasies by putting them into an official-looking memo and leaking them through a Columbia law professor.”
“The reason he was not prosecuted was that it would just cause problems to designate as “classified” the anti-Trump porn he dreamed up and locked in a safe at his house. United States v. Comey in this instance would only elevate his mad ranting to a national secret.”
“The real crime is that Comey lent the credibility of the FBI to bolster a ridiculous smear fabricated by the Democratic National Committee to undermine the Trump campaign and then his presidency. If we cannot prosecute that crime, we are a banana republic.”
“Attorney General Bill Barr has appointed John Durham to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. When he looks for who planted the stupid idea that Trump colluded with Russia, he will find, in each instance, that it was DNC working with the Clinton campaign—and Comey was involved up to his neck.”
“The Steele dossier was uncorroborated, unverified, and false. That didn’t stop Comey and other political operatives at the FBI from turning it into evidence to support FISA warrants permitting them to spy on the Trump campaign.”
“Obviously, politicians should never, ever, ever be allowed to use their bought and paid for political opposition research to get their opponent investigated using clandestine measures.”
“The whole mess began when the DNC sold the phony idea that Putin stole its emails. To this day, though, the FBI has never tested the computers. Instead, the FBI put its head in the sand and allowed the DNC to construct a Russia-did-it excuse to deflect attention from its damaging emails”.
“That is three distinct instances—where DNC opposition research was used in federal law-enforcement investigations.”
“If he (Comey) is not someday locked in an iron mask……………. we might as well just open the borders and end this experiment in democratic governance.”
Good, sound advice and much appreciated, as it is always the better course of action to wait until all sides are heard, a lesson many young lawyers have to learn the hard way, and I was certainly in that number any number of times. After a lifetime of practicing law, no one appreciates the fact that investigations, like lawsuits, can take a very long time. However, assuming one is lucky enough to draw one of the many very dedicated and conscientious Judges in a given case, the Judge acts as gatekeeper and — most of the time– pushes the parties and lawyers to move it along, in many cases much faster than they would prefer. My frustration is that this conduct has been going on year after year after year and one is not unreasonable in beginning to think there is just no end in sight. I just saw another great article discussing that very idea, “Comey escaped this time, but his day should come”, here, and while the author does have a somewhat cautionary tone, he also says this:
I feel many Americans are getting to the point where they fully expect the Justice (?) Department to punt even on the McCabe case, which cries out for an indictment. In other words, as noted in the article I cited above, they are losing confidence in the American Justice System and its central doctrine “Equal Justice Under Law” .
Sincerely, Jim
We must have been reading it at the exact same time! As they say, great minds think alike, or something like that! Thanks, Jim