We are in the midst of an epic struggle between the rule of law, and the will of a criminal former American president, and his cult of Republican enablers. The Department of Justice appears to be moving closer and closer to prosecuting Donald Trump, even as radicalized Republicans tear the country apart with lies, incendiary rhetoric, and political violence to protect their beloved leader from the consequences of his wrongdoing.
It’s a turning point in America. Will the DOJ be intimidated, or will it do its job in the face of political smears, and the mounting threat of violence?
Yesterday, we learned that one of Donald Trump’s confidantes has been talking to the feds about his mishandling of classified documents, preceding the FBI’s unprecedented move hitting Mar-a-Lago with a search warrant Monday morning. Trump spent Wednesday pleading the fifth in a court-ordered deposition in New York, refusing to answer questions for fear of incriminating himself.
Clearly, Donald Trump’s in danger of being indicted, with multiple investigations closing in on him fast. He’s running out of options.
It’s a moment this country has waited years for.
We have watched this man run absolutely roughshod over the rule of law, and American democracy itself, for years with what seems like total impunity. The question now is this: have we reached the moment where Donald Trump’s impunity ends?
Finally, after the fruitless Mueller investigation, the impeachment for leaning on the president of Ukraine for dirt on Joe Biden, the campaign to overturn a lawful election, and the second impeachment for the violent insurrection he unleashed on the U.S. Capitol, it’s Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents that endangers him legally.
As Donald Trump himself observed, it’s the little things that get you.
A federal investigation heats up
This search warrant didn’t come out of nowhere. For a year, Donald Trump has been ignoring federal subpoenas, and holding on to stacks of classified documents at his home at Mar-a-Lago, unwilling to turn over what he believed to be his personal souvenirs to federal officials. Apparently, there was sensitive national security information among these documents, and officials were concerned they would be removed, or destroyed.
The DOJ clearly tired of this yearlong game, and took the explosive step of executing a search warrant on a former president’s home. At a minimum, federal agents had probable cause to believe a crime had been committed, and a federal magistrate signed off on it.
At this moment, it’s unclear if that’s all they intend to do, or if this federal investigation might result in a criminal indictment. A press conference today by Attorney General Merrick Garland left far more questions than answers; he spoke mostly in generalities, defending the integrity of the FBI and DOJ from incoming attacks by Republicans. He reiterated that there existed probable cause, and that he personally approved the search.
Furthermore, he said the DOJ was filing a motion to unseal the search warrant. He said little else about the ongoing investigation.
It was remarkable. America’s top law enforcement officer was defending himself and his department against utterly spurious allegations of impropriety by Donald Trump, of all people, and the Republican Party that continues to defend him.
A dark portent in Cincinnati
During his long smarmy business career Trump was often heard to say that it was generally the little things that get you; that certainly seems prescient now. But with elected Republicans playing along with his delusions of persecution, the country is itself in mounting danger.
Indeed, an armed Trump supporter clad in body armor tried and failed to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office today. He died in a gunfight with police officers, underscoring the rising potential for political violence, as Trump and his supporters work to mobilize rage over the FBI’s search of his home.
Apparently, the Cincinnati gunman was also present in Washington on January 6, unsurprisingly. He was a 42 year old man named Ricky Shiffer, who was posting about a “revolutionary war” on Truth Social, Donald Trump’s social media site.
Indeed, circumstances increasingly resemble those that preceded the insurrection, when Donald Trump mobilized his supporters to halt the certification of the election he lost, violently breaching the U.S. Capitol on his behalf. Like then, Trump and his allies are using incendiary rhetoric and outright lies to put their already unstable supporters in a fighting mood, and based on what’s happening in Cincinnati, it appears to be working.
Do Republicans really prefer another civil war over the end of Donald Trump’s impunity before the law? It certainly appears that way.
Republicans spew outrage, lies
Indeed, America’s right on the brink, torn in half by lies.
Elected Republicans and right-wing provocateurs alike are using utterly incendiary rhetoric, comparing the FBI to the Gestapo, the brutal Nazi secret police. Meanwhile, many Republicans are eagerly suggesting that this move against Trump is the opening volley in a civil war.
How might Republicans react to a criminal prosecution? They would become absolutely unhinged; political violence wouldn’t just be possible, it would be expected.
Clearly, the party of law and order is defunct, long gone.
A quick sampling of Republican rhetoric tells the story: Ted Cruz said the FBI’s search was “corrupt & an abuse of power.” Marco Rubio said it was “something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships.” Ron DeSantis said it was “the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents.” Likewise, Kevin McCarthy, that inveterate and spineless con artist spoke of the “intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”
It’s truly nauseating. They’re shameless.
Steve Bannon actually suggested that the Biden administration is preparing to assassinate Donald Trump, as did Bernard Kerik, former NYPD police commissioner. They’re delusional.
More to the point, Republicans crave violence. How else can we interpret this rhetoric?
Kari Lake said it was “one of the darkest days in American history: the day our government, originally created by the people, turned against us.” She’s currently the GOP’s nominee for governor in Arizona, one of Trump’s Big Lie disciples.
Marjorie Taylor Greene said it was “the rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!! These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war.” Lauren Boebert added, “This is gestapo crap, and it will not stand.”
It’s exactly the kind of insane and inflammatory rhetoric America saw prior to the insurrection. As events in Cincinnati clearly demonstrate, this kind of violent political rhetoric has consequences.
It’s a dangerous game Republicans are playing, even if it’s not particularly surprising. After all, we’ve watched Republicans bend over backwards, sell their souls, principles, and morals to defend Donald Trump.
Why would this be any different? It won’t.
Republicans are on the warpath.
They’re trying to intimidate the Department of Justice, and AG Merrick Garland, to prevent him from targeting Donald Trump legally.
It’s absolutely perilous.
This is a reckoning that should have happened long ago; Donald Trump tried to overturn an election, and launched a violent coup to keep himself in power.
He escaped impeachment twice only because Republicans were beset by cowardice, unable to place their country over their own personal political fortunes. There was a brief moment after January 6 when Republicans were so shocked by the violence, and by their own close calls that day, that many momentarily stopped defending him.
Unfortunately, that sentiment didn’t last long. Beyond Liz Cheney and a few other rare outliers, elected Republicans simply don’t have the spines, nor the moral fortitude to do what’s right. To expect them to place the country over themselves and their political prospects now is a fool’s errand.
But the Department of Justice is another story. Prosecutors must not be cowed, bullied by these craven Republicans who stand for nothing at all.
Rather, the DOJ is America’s very last bastion of hope.
It’s time to put an end to this madness, before it ends us. The only way that happens is with real accountability, and an end to Trump’s lawlessness.
Still, this may be a painful reckoning indeed.