I understand why Trump, Republican officials, the far right, Trump supporters and fascists are howling at the moon, upset by Trump getting a legal search warrant authorized by a federal judge because there was probable cause of a crime. If I had tried to stage an Insurrection coup to overthrow the government and end democracy in the United States, I wouldn’t want the FBI to get a legal search warrant authorized by a federal judge for my home either. The thing is, I just don’t get the sense that they understand why most others are upset that Trump, Republicans officials, the far right, Trump supporters and fascists tried to stage an Insurrection coup to overthrow the government and end democracy in the United States. One of the howling-at-the-moon cries we’re hearing from Republicans and others on the far right is that “If they can search Trump’s home, they can search YOURS!!!!! Well – yes, they can. They always have been able to. That’s a given, we all know that. If you commit a crime, they can get a legal search warrant authorized by a judge because of probable cause that a crime was committed at your home. When Hilary Clinton used a personal server to send and receive emails at her home, Trump, Republican officials and the far right howled at the moon that “She put us all at risk” and “Lock her up! Lock her up!” But now that Trump has taken boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of documents from the White House, many of which may be classified, some of which may be highly classified and actually “putting us all at risk,” none of which he has the right to be in possession of because they belong to the Office of the President, and he is not the president, it’s so odd that Trump and all these Republican officials and the far right seem to have no recollection that this is something they’re supposed to be outraged at and howling at the moon over. Things like when Mike Pence tweeted that “.@realDonaldTrump and I commend the FBI for reopening an investigation into Clinton's personal email server because no one is above the law." Or when Sarah Huckabee tweeted “When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing.” Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was howling at the moon that Attorney General Merrick better remember to save all his records and saying he planned to hold a hearing if Republicans take control of the House. The thing is, not only is Merrick Garland known for being meticulous and doesn’t need a reminder to save material (especially when the McCarthy charge was made on the same day photos were revealed of Trump tearing up documents and flushing them in his toilet), but I think the very last thing Republicans would want is for all the DOJ confidential documents of their investigation into the Republican coup attempt released to the public. Including any information they have on Mr. McCarthy. On the other hand, Democrats would probably be thrilled for such a hearing and release of everything the Justice Department has discovered, whether or not it can yet be charged as a crime. It's understandable that Trump is howling at the moon about how unfair this legal search warrant is. There’s a lot of fundraising you can do off that. But if it was actually unfair and showed the FBI acting politically and without reason, he has every legal right to release the official government list of everything that was seized from his home. For some odd reason, though, he hasn’t done that. I get that Republican officials are so deeply upset at a legal search warrant being used by the FBI -- but when you start howling at the moon how you want to defund the FBI and Department of Justice, it starts to make others wonder what you’re trying to hide. Putting aside for the moment that undermining the FBI and DOJ is a core principle of fascism, and also ignoring that Republicans have long tried to paint themselves as “The Party of Law and Order” (sic), I have to think that “We want to get rid of the Justice Department and FBI, you’re on your own” is not a great campaign issue. Okay, in fairness, I understand why Matt Gaetz is pushing this, he’s under FBI investigation, but it’s just weird for other Republicans. Or anyone in a civilized society. There's something really odd, too, about Republican officials and the fascist right howling at the moon for how politicized the Department of Justice and FBI were in getting this legal search warrant. Putting aside how much Trump and Attorney General William Barr literally politicized the DOJ, what's so odd here is how totally unaware the howlers all are that the director of the FBI Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump -- and the judge who signed the search warrant, Bruce Reinhardt, was appointed by...okay, let's all say it together -- Trump. And finally, some of the loudest howling at the moon by Trump, Pence, Republican officials, and the fascist right is how this legal search warrant, authorized by a federal judge appointed by Trump under an FBI director appointed by Trump, issued to a former president is unprecedented -- absolutely unprecedented!! But somehow, all that howling noise seems to have blocked out the obvious that a president organizing a coup and leading an Insurrection to overthrow the government and end democracy is why the search was unprecedented -- because a coup attempt by a sitting president is what, above all, is unprecedented -- absolutely unprecedented! By the way, also unprecedented -- absolutely unprecedented is a president who was impeached twice, said he trusted the Russian dictator more than U.S. intelligence services, gave away classified information in the Oval Office to the Russian Foreign Minster, and tried to get his vice-president hanged. But why quibble with reality when you can howl at the moon.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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