FBI agents carrying out a lawful warrant personally approved by the Attorney General, signed off by a Federal judge, and finding highly classified information that the president illegally retained, refused to return, and lied about are committing “Gestapo tactics?”
Think about the awesome stupidity of that comment.
While you’re at it, think about these ridiculous comments:
-
Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) “[Attorney General; Merrick Garland] must resign or be impeached” after the FBI raided former president Donald Trump’s personal residence at Mar-a-Lago. . . .The raid by Joe Biden’s FBI on the home of a former president who is also Biden’s chief political opponent is an unprecedented assault on democratic norms and the rule of law. . . . Biden has taken our republic into dangerous waters.”
-
House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy. “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization. When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
-
Senator John Cornyn, Texas: “I know the Presidential Records Act makes those not his records… [But] I think what [Attorney General] Merrick Garland decided to do was heavy-handed and frankly naive. What he’s done now is create a precedent that the Department of Justice can execute a search warrant against a former president when alternative means to accomplish the same result would have been available.”
-
Josh Hawley: “I think that this raid was an unconscionable act of political weaponization in America… It’s really, really alarming, and it shows that this administration is willing to use law enforcement to further their political vendettas like a Third World country.” He added that Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray should resign.
-
Marco Rubio: “This is, really, at its core, a storage argument that they’re making… I don’t think a fight over storage of documents is worthy of what they’ve done, which is [a] full-scale raid and then these constant leaks… [They are] arguing there are documents [at Mar-a-Lago, but they] don’t deny that he should have access to those documents. I don’t think they ever told him to return anything, they just said to tore it under lock and key.”
Think about the disgust you would have felt for people who defended the Rosenberg’s. Aldrich Ames. Robert Hansson. What would you think of them? That they must be sympathetic to our nation’s enemies. That’s what Republicans used to say. “Fellow travelers.” “Communist sympathizers.” Think Alger Hiss. Tail Gunner Joe McCarthy. “Are you now or have you ever been?” My, have times changed.
Yes, Republicans might say, but this isn’t the same. Indeed, it isn’t. The security breaches committed by Donald Trump are far worse than most of those alleged cases in the past. People lost their careers merely for refusing to answer whether they had ever been a communist. No suggestion of espionage, just a question whether you attended 2 or 3 meetings 20 years earlier. Second, today’s investigations are far more careful and far more in accordance with the law. Those were headline hunting congressmen; today, a hardly eager justice department (which tried for a year and a half to get the documents returned and was repeatedly stonewalled and lied to by Trump and his handlers, issued first a subpoena and then only as a last resort a warrant.
Make no mistake, from just what we know, that Trump kept this information and handled it carelessly, the United States national security has been damaged severely. Our allies trust us much less, foreign people who might have worked with us will be much more likely to be reluctant. And if, through carelessness or greed, Trump made any of this available (with Mar-a-Lago crawling with foreign agents, it’s almost impossible that none of it was compromised), we’re talking the worst security breach ever.
The worst part of it is, all of those Republican politicians are very well aware that this is a deadly serious security crisis, that Trump is a unique security threat, that he is the most venal man who ever sat in the Oval office. They are fully aware this is a grave crisis and that the FBI did it by the book. They know their words are stirring up the increasingly angry and out of control MAGA base. They just don’t love the country enough to tell people the truth. Since 1993’s Gingrich revolution, the Republican party has been winning elections by lying about Democrats and making their diminishing political base angrier. With Trump, they’ve finally met a career conman who has learned you never pay a bill, never obey a court order, never admit anything, and always attack. It’s a pity there aren’t one or two Republicans who still love their country more than Trump.
This series is written to promote political discussion and organizing. Permission is given to use this in fact sheets, talking points, letters to the editor, etc. We’d appreciate if you notified Gettysburg DFA (leonsreed@gmail.com) of any uses. Written by Leon Reed.