The unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is a major escalation in the regime war against “evil thought”.
How else to interpret the descent of the praetorian guard of the regime to the home of its greatest detractor who would have cooperated, under the pretext of a search warrant authorizing a fishing expeditionthree months before a midterm election that could serve as a rebuke to the regime and improve the position of its greatest enemy?
The raid must be considered not only as a Rubicon Crossing Time in terms of the death of the rule of law under the cover of its maintenance and the militarization of the national security apparatus against its political opposition, but within the framework of a legal, political and psychological warfare operation carried out by a hostile regime to half the country that disapproves of it.
There are several levels that this assault is about to take place on.
It seems all but certain that President Trump will be indicted, possibly on a whole host of charges beyond those mentioned in the search warrant, given the scope of what was seized. The fact that the Justice Department allegedly collected documents privileged between lawyer and client and potentially the executive during the raid, then refused Trump’s requests for a special master to review the records, is only ‘one more piece of evidence for what has become crystal clear over the past six years. : We operate under a system of injustice “Show me the man, and I will use and abuse the most awesome investigative powers with impunity to try to avert a crime”.
And if you think the double standard in the treatment of any Trump ally compared to, say, Michael Sussmann, let alone hillary clintonwas egregious, imagine what we would witness with Trump in a DC swamp court.
Does anyone honestly believe that they would get a fair hearing before a jury of their peers in a trial presided over by an impartial judge?
Does anyone honestly believe that if found guilty of one or more charges, the appeal process would prove to be more legitimate?
Perhaps the last bastion of modicum of legitimacy within our justice system – despite the best efforts of some of its members and other employees — is the Supreme Court. This could be the ultimate arbiter of his case and perhaps serve as the most favorable venue. Note, however, that Trump has already been blocked there, and not on legal merit, but because Trump is and has been treated as uniquely below the law among presidents.
If Trump were to appear before a court whose jurisprudential makeup he had so dramatically changed, it would draw the ire of the entire ruling class. The Dobbs The campaign of pressure and intimidation would seem like child’s play compared to the onslaught that would ensue. And we’ve seen how the Justice Department has allowed threats against Supreme Court justices to proliferate by failing to prosecute those who violate federal law by demonstrating threateningly outside their homes. Expect perhaps the most vicious assault on the Supreme Court in its entire history if that’s where the case against Trump ends.
But there is another level on which the regime will punish its opponents after the Mar-a-Lago raid. We can expect a trickle of leaks as long as they are politically useful from the immense treasure trove of documents the FBI has sequestered. Presumably they will aim to smear Trump and his supporters in Congress in the most damaging way, at least distracting from the Democrat-led calamities as the midterms approach.
It can also be assumed that these leaks will target those in and around Trump’s orbit to freeze them and, if necessary, crush them.
But perhaps most insidious will be the regime’s effort, already underway, to portray itself as the victim of the raid rather than the aggressor, and to use its victim status to persecute its political opponents ever more viciously.
Since even before January 6, the regime has pushed the narrative that Trump poses a unique danger to “our democracy,” not just as a political figure, but in fact as the leader of a domestic terrorist army, and that those who support his agenda incite terror.
Hence the pronounced effort immediately after the raid to concentrate on how he unleashed a torrent reported of threatening rhetoric on social media. Nothing else than Daniel J. Jonesformer staffer of Senator Dianne Feinstein who played a central role in Russiagate and post-Russiagate information effortshas been the primary corporate media source in analyzing this rhetoric.
The regime and its media mouthpieces will suspend the rantings and ramblings of anonymous users on digital platforms and any violence by rogue actors who can in any way be associated with Trump around the necks of the tens of millions of peaceful, patriotic Americans who support Trump or, at least, oppose the excesses of the left.
The regime cleverly portrayed its critics as intentionally posing the most lethal for the motherland confusing their dissenting views with “racial or ethnic animosityand/or “anti-government or anti-authority” sentiments. He will therefore use the fury aroused by the Mar-a-Lago raid to pursue them further under a National strategy against domestic terrorism is explicitly intended for them.
Expect greater social media censorship, de-platforming and de-banking of political undesirables. The effort to implement a de facto, if not de jure, social credit system in America is only likely to gain momentum.
And what should we expect by November 8 from law enforcement who have used assets to concoct conspiracies to kidnap governors and entrap people approaching elections as recently as there is a cycle? Such schemes, along with accusations of threat of widespread domestic inflation FBI whistleblowers speak for themselves.
At a minimum, we can expect a host of threat assessments of the national security apparatus, aided by hysterical media, identifying grave and imminent threats to the homeland as emanating from those who criticize said apparatus, and would dare to call for defunding if not abolishing/reorganizing its various elements.
The regime has shown that it will do what it can with everything it has to demonize and hunt down opponents of its agenda in the service of its power and privileges – not “democracy”.
Time will tell if Americans know what time it is and Choose to replace him. Either way, the costs will be significant.
Ben Weingarten is a Senior Federalist Contributor, Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and Fellow of the Claremont Institute. He was selected as a 2019 Robert Novak Journalism Fellow of the Fund for American Studies, where he is currently working on a book on US-China politics. Ben writes on national security and foreign policy, economics and politics for publications such as City Journal, Conservative Review and PJ Media. He is the founder and CEO of ChangeUp Media, a media consulting and production company dedicated to promoting conservative principles. Ben is also a 2015 Publius Fellow of the Claremont Institute. You can find his work at benweingarten.com and follow him on Twitter @bhweingarten.
Unlock comments by joining the Federalist community.
Subscribe