Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
President Donald J. Trump is escorted by U.S. Air Force Col. Rebecca J. Sonkiss at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Sunday morning, Feb. 23, 2020, to board Air Force One for his trip to India.
Most Americans know how difficult it’s been for President Trump to fill important government jobs since competent people with any integrity would rather not join a sleazy, dishonest administration headed by a hateful, divisive president. But that’s no excuse for Trump to appoint one of the nation’s most lawless, corrupt individuals as America’s “chief law enforcement officer.” That’s right, Trump has appointed himself to yet another job he’s totally unfit to hold. Apparently, Tony Soprano wasn’t available.
“I’m actually, I guess, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the country,” Trump declared, officially ending the rule of law in America. Trump’s unique vision of his own legal powers is that the U.S. Constitution confers upon the president “the right to do whatever I want” without any oversight from the government’s legislative branch or interference from the judicial branch regarding the constitutionality of his actions.
Trump claimed up until now he’s “chosen not to be involved” in criminal investigations of his legions of political enemies inside and outside the government. That’s news to all the rest of us. We could have sworn he’s been leading shrieking hate rallies in chants to lock up anyone who has ever dared to oppose him. But Trump says he’s now “totally allowed” to be involved in directing the U.S. Justice Department to conduct criminal investigations into his personal enemies and freeing all of the incarcerated criminals associated with his campaign and administration.
He’s Taken Control
Trump seized control over U.S. law enforcement just days after his acquittal of illegal and unconstitutional “high crimes and misdemeanors” by a corrupt majority of Republican U.S. senators in a sham jury trial exonerating Trump without calling any witnesses or examining any documentary evidence that could prove the president’s guilt or innocence. From now on, Trump himself will decide whether his actions are legal.
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Trump has never believed in a democracy where whoever gets the most votes wins. It’s no surprise he wants the same ruthless, dictatorial powers as Russian President Vladimir Putin, his biggest campaign benefactor. It’s surprising, though, that Trump is not perfectly satisfied with his own docile, house-trained Attorney General William Barr. Barr has perverted legal ethics, federal law and the Constitution to carry out Trump’s every wish. Sure, Barr grumbles that Trump tweeting his orders to the Justice Department is humiliating, but that’s never stopped Barr from eagerly complying.
“Please stop tweeting, Mr. President! It’s making it much more difficult for me to do your bidding!” was the headline of a satirical Washington Post column by Alexandra Petri, the daughter of former Wisconsin Republican Congressman Tom Petri; he held the position from 1979 until 2015, in the days before Trump when Republican congressmen were still honest, respectable people. She summed up the Trump-Barr relationship: “Stop making it seem like you need to prod me to do what you want, Mr. President! I’m on it! Just telephone me or something.”
Barr embarrasses career prosecutors by bowing submissively before Trump. After the prosecutors who convicted Trump’s sleazy pal Roger Stone of jury tampering and obstruction of justice recommended he receive seven to nine years in prison (following federal guidelines), Barr undercut them within hours by drastically reducing that recommendation. Barr even ordered department attorneys to investigate information Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, pushed in Ukraine to smear Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.
Brazen and Corrupt
Every American should be terrified the brazen corruption is just beginning if Trump can direct the Justice Department to punish his political adversaries and ignore the crimes of all his dishonest associates. Consider the jam-packed enemies list Trump tweeted out after Stone’s conviction for lying to Congress: “Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Schifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?”
Don’t worry if you don’t recognize all those names. Suffice it to say, it’s just the beginning of an endless list that includes any election opponent, Justice Department investigator, FBI agent and member of the intelligence community who documented Russia’s interference in the 2016 election to elect Trump and its plans to do the same in 2020 and, of course, Congressman Adam Schiff who eloquently presented the House impeachment case against Trump. And, no, none of those individuals lied about Trump. Just the opposite. They told the truth about unconstitutional actions by Trump that were an affront to democracy.
But heaven help anyone who tells the truth about the president of the United States in our democracy now that Trump is America’s “Chief Law Enforcement Officer” with the power to unleash criminal investigations by the U.S. Justice Department to destroy them. Trump’s constant rage is fueled by an unrelenting hatred of anyone who has ever criticized him. From now on, a criticism of Trump will be considered an attack on America, and it will be met with fire and fury the likes of which this world has never seen.
