Prosecution or persecution?

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Justice Department Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Paul GleiserProsecution or persecution?


I’m about to say something that might make your head explode. So please, sit down, take a deep breath and hear me out.

Here goes.

I hope the Department of Justice has something on Donald Trump that constitutes clear, unequivocal and undeniable evidence of criminal wrongdoing. I hope they have him dead to rights.

Because if they don’t, Lord help us.

Given the recent history of the Department of Justice, given that they pursued a three year-long “Russian collusion” persecution of Donald Trump despite knowing from the jump that the predicate for that investigation was a crock; given that in the face of clearly indictable wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton that same DOJ gave her a pass; given that they are now doing the same with respect to clear evidence of criminal wrongdoing by President Biden’s son, Hunter; given that at least half the country now believes that the DOJ has one set of rules for ruling class Democrats and another set of rules for pretty much everyone else…

…if the DOJ doesn’t have a clear-cut, slam dunk case against Donald Trump, they have now infected the blood, bone and sinew of American society with a potentially terminal disease.

Only one of two things can be true here. Either the Department of Justice has a rock-solid criminal case against Donald Trump, or the ruling class has turned the Department of Justice into a politically weaponized force hellbent on stamping out anyone who would dare question or oppose them – citizens, taxpayers and voters be damned.

Prosecution or persecution.

If it’s the latter, the United States has crossed a Rubicon from which there is little chance of safe return, putting survival of the republic in doubt.

Fully half the country now distrusts the Department of Justice. Any reasonable observer can look at the DOJ’s recent history and call its objectivity into question. Any prosecution of Donald Trump will play out against that backdrop of distrust. Thus, my statement saying that I really do hope they have the goods on Donald Trump.

But with prior cries of, “wolf!” still echoing, I strongly doubt that they do.

And that scares me to death.

Because of the way the DOJ has behaved, it is reasonable to suspect that rather than seeking justice, they simply want to disqualify Trump for office and are willing to go to any length to do so. If that is true, people in the heartland aren’t just going to quietly sit there. The DOJ will have unleashed furies that they can’t control.

If Merrick Garland’s DOJ indicts Donald Trump, as seems probable, Trump has almost no chance of receiving a fair trial before a District of Columbia jury. Upward of 100 million Americans believe this.

Between now and the time a case against Trump goes to trial, the DOJ will likely engage in a drip, drip, drip campaign of innuendo and selective leaks with the goal of freezing out and/or destroying the people in Trump’s orbit.

With all of this in process between now and the early 2024 New Hampshire Primary, with Trump spending millions on legal fees while being pilloried every day on social media and the alphabet networks, the Department of Justice will be signaling all other Republican candidates that might dare to challenge the Washington ruling class. The message will be unmistakable:

“You wouldn’t want this to happen to you, would you?”

Should he be tried, Trump’s almost inevitable conviction in a D.C. court will certainly be appealed and the appellate trail will wind toward the steps of the Supreme Court. Insomuch as SCOTUS is now viewed by the ruling class as a “Trump court,” the resulting onslaught against the court will make the recent Dobbs decision reaction, which included personal attacks on the homes of individual justices and an assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, look like an ice cream social. (You will recall that the DOJ took little action against the thugs and idiots that threatened and harassed the justices and their families.)

All to say that a politically driven prosecution of Donald Trump on ginned up, process-centric, weak-beer charges carries grave implications. For that reason, they’d better have Trump on something substantial.

I’m betting you now that they don’t.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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15 Responses

  1. C M Solomon says:

    If the clear evidence that you cited of the habitually corrupt DOJ were to have Trump “dead to rights”, would that excuse the ROT in that part of the swamp that threatens the Nation and give the DOJ yet ANOTHER opportunity to plague the citizenry with their Gestapo tactics? How on earth can we EVER know that the “dead to rights” potential conviction of Trump was legitimate in the first place since half (or more) of the Nation doesn’t believe that JUSTICE, not the “POLITICS of personal destruction” is their goal.

    By example, the DOJ has demonstrated that it is an agent of the Marxist, Democrat controlled, unelected administrative (deep) state that abhors the limitations of the Constitution. By way of their own statements, the DOJ has unleashed its venom upon ordinary law abiding citizens and sees us Conservatives as Enemies of the State that must be eradicated from society in order to carry out their mission to establish a dictatorial utopian society in their own image.

    The Nation can ABSOLUTELY survive the demolishment of the corrupt DOJ, if that is what it takes, to renew our Nation’s fidelity to the Constitution using LOCAL Law enforcement to keep the peace and fight crime legitimately.

  2. Jon and Brenda Nutter says:

    Again, Great Post this week! We agree 100%. It’s a crying shame what they are doing to bring down one man. Relentless!

  3. Mike Gauthier says:

    Regardless of what happens going forward, the DOJ and FBI have proven by past actions that they are corrupted and do not apply the law equally. That means it is nearly impossible for the 100 million people you spoke of to believe anything they come up with at this point in time.

    • C M Solomon says:

      True and Equal Justice for ONE man is more important that all the Federal unelected bureaucracies that habitually operate outside the limits of the Constitution in order to keep their power and fake reputation, all put together!

  4. Mike says:

    Equal Justice under the Law in America is gone. Yes, the FBI/DOJ did indeed cross the Rubicon and Ceasar will be held to account at some point down the road. All great nations rise and fall at some point in history. As President Lincoln said, “A house divided cannot stand.” No way a nation can survive when parts choose to enforce the laws of the nation and parts do not. The Laws of the Land cannot be cherry picked to suit those who are in the majority in Washington. I do hope Merrick Garland completely understands what he did when that fuse was lit. NO sane person would have done that given the precedent that excluded the sins of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barak H. Obama, Obama’s Administration, Obama’s FBI/DOJ in 2016 (Russian Collusion hoax), or Sleepy Joe’s Puppet Masters; UNLESS. Unless they really plan on subverting the Constitution of the USA and setting up the fast-coming Democratic Republic of Socialist States of North America (DRSSNA for short). This monster of government that is in play and being upgraded via the weaponizing of the IRS is a powder keg waiting for a match. We have enough time between now and the Midterms for just such an action to happen. The Democommies WANT all us Deplorables to react in a radical manner so they can declare Marshall Law. The Czars are all in place and know their jobs especially FEMA. DO NOT FORGET FEMA AND THE POWER THEY CAN WIELD IN AN EMERGENCY. I have firsthand experience with FEMA and I cannot stand to work with them. They are 110% arrogant and will tell you as much without asking. They rule the roost in a disaster and can bring other powers to bear on YOU including YOUR STATE AUDITORS. So now you have the Feds and State going after you on a lie created by FEMA personnel. YOU are truly guilty until proven innocent. I have been there and done just that. Toss in the FBI, DOJ, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security stacked up against us little people. It looks bleak. Pray we make the Midterms and the Republicans do indeed have a Red Wave. If that does not happen, we are the proverbial screwed goose. I really believe that.

  5. Richard Anderson says:

    It may be a rocky road, but The United States of America CAN rebuild and create a new & better DOJ and FBI. BUT this cannot be done when at the top echelons of power you have corrupt individuals calling the decisions who are partisan political Marxist/communists hacks loyal to dems alone, and who despise conservative Republicans like President Trump and the 75 million plus American patriots who voted for him.

    The FBI is a “created agency” by the executive branch in 1908 by U.S. AG Charles J. Bonaparte, NOT by The Constitution. Thusly, it most certainly can be REFORMED in whatever way is necessary to bring back the integrity and respect of “We The People” it was once noted for. Any such reform, must start at top. It can be done. Use local small towns and rural counties as the model as they are the best examples of what being exemplary “peace officers” should be like.

    Donald J. Trump is not guilty of anything in my opinion, except being THE BEST PRESIDENT EVER! I was purchasing two pocket Constitutions for my nephew and niece. A comment made by a reviewer said of Trump.. “best President we ever had.” I concur. And I am counting on another run and win by him in 2024.

    As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” And President Trump is a good man who is doing something.. and there are millions of men and women who agree and are working toward that same goal.. the renaissance of The United States of America we love.. the one Founded in 1776.

  6. Linda M says:

    In my humble opinion, if one will just go back and take a look at the FBI, CIA and all the other alphabet agencies, you will find that the democrat party has used them as weapons against those who differ from the leftist agenda. One in particular and that is the IRS…which “o” used against his “enemies” who was anyone who had different opinions from his. This is nothing new, BUT, what is new is the extreme measures the left has taken against ONE MAN. I call it the Wylie Coyote syndrome where everything you try to do to get rid of the Roadrunner either blows up in your face or drops on your head while the Roadrunner BEEP BEEP goes about his business! AND the thing about it is: Like Wylie, the left NEVER LEARNS!!!

  7. Jean Bammel says:

    Paul Gleiser you couldn’t be more correct in hoping that the DOJ really did get a warrant to search Donald Trump’s home based on real proof of illegal activity. I don’t believe that the average US citizen really understands what the DOJ actions really mean and they surely don’t understand what the DOJ actions are forcing on those that believe in the United States of America.

    • C M Solomon says:

      Until the unconstitutional and illegal activity of the DOJ/FBI/CIA, etc., that attempted to frame President Trump with false crimes over the last 6 years, is punished and the members of the corrupt administrative state (Federal employees) who were the perpetrators of these politically motivated schemes are indicted and incarcerated, NOTHING they claim about Trump can be believed or pursued given their malevolent mission. Trump has been the victim of an illegal and elaborate sting operation by radical Marxist Democrat activists and they MUST be ERADICATED from power in our society if we are EVER to return to a Rule-of-Law, Constitutional Republic. The country can and did survive LONG before these corrupt parts of the administrative state starting placing themselves ABOVE the Law with impunity! The DOJ and associated megalomaniacs were never crowned King/Emperor of the United States and were never authorized to rule over us with FEAR and INTIMIDATION!

  8. Buddy Saunders says:

    Good God Almighty, Paul, do you really want this unfolding travesty of justice to results in Pres. Trump being found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. Is that how you hope to rationalize what’s happening, pretend that by some magic the bad guys are actually the good, and that Donald Trump is the one in league with the Russians and the devil. You know that makes no sense whatever.

    The alternative – – the absolute reality – – is exactly what you further speculate, that the swamp, the deep state sees itself in possession of such absolute power that it can act in total disregard for the law, the will of the people, and law. That, my friend, is precisely what is happening. the answer to such a dangerous aggregation of power isn’t to throw under the bus the man who has endured so much and fought so well against the demons of the deep state. Surrender isn’t the answer. We all must must stand and fight. But so long as a shred of freedom remains in this country, our best weapons are our vote and the ballot box. No more stolen elections!

    • Paul Gleiser says:

      Buddy, I think you might have missed my point.

      No, I don’t want Donald Trump found guilty of anything. But given the history of the past six years, it is an unfortunate fact that absent obvious, undeniable guilt on Trump’s part, it’s the end of the line for the Department of Justice. If they don’t have Trump on something truly compelling — and I seriously doubt that they do — then, as you state, no “shred of freedom remains in this country.” Certainly no rational, thinking, well-intentioned citizen of goodwill will ever again trust the DOJ. If the DOJ succeeds in this, it will be an object lesson for any conservative who might consider running for president. That individual will have to consider the possibility of the DOJ doing to him what they’re doing to Trump. Trump has the money to defend himself. Most potential candidates don’t.

      My fear — and it grows by the day — is that ruling class aversion to the prospect of a second Trump presidency is going to lead to the institutions of government, (e.g. the Department of Justice, the CIA, etc.) to take actions that will have consequences from which the republic might never recover. A prosecution of Donald Trump on some ginned up, procedural, paper-thin predicate will not have the broad support of the American people. Half or more of the electorate will see such a prosecution for what it actually is, the weaponization of the criminal justice system against a political opponent.

      That’s the stuff of third-world nations and Soviet-style autocracies.

      I don’t put it past the DOJ to bring charges that they know won’t ultimately win conviction. But they’ll do it anyway because they know that the pendency of a criminal case against Trump will either seriously cripple or effectively eliminate him as a contender in 2024. Such an action — the pursuit of Trump on some narrow-gauge charge for the sole purpose of taking him out of the 2024 contest — particularly in light of the recent history of the DOJ vis. a vis. Hillary, Hunter, et. al., has the potential to, as I say in the piece, “…unleash furies that can’t be controlled.”

      There are only two ways, as I see it, that those furies don’t get unleashed. The first is for the DOJ to back off. I’m not optimistic that they will. That leaves, as the only alternative to what could become serious civil unrest and perhaps the effective end of the republic, a truly convincing case against Donald Trump.

      I don’t think they have such a case. And if they do, they need to become real transparent, real quick.

      PLG

  9. C M Solomon says:

    To repeat your comment: “I hope the Department of Justice has something on Donald Trump that constitutes clear, unequivocal and undeniable evidence of criminal wrongdoing. I hope they have him dead to rights.” This is a formula for National suicide for the following reasons that I have not already mentioned.

    The Marxist Left and their WOKE infiltration of the Administrative State, Corporations, Academia, Federal and Local Government, etc., will not STOP, now that they have the DOJ as their storm troopers to carry out their attempt to devour the Constitution and frighten the Nation into capitulation to their demonic agenda. The WORST thing that could happen to Freedom in this Nation is for them to succeed in their personal destruction of Trump and to GET AWAY WITH IT, independent of the evidence, TRUE OR FALSE. This would FOREVER embolden the continuation of their illegitimate seizure of dictatorial power and eliminate our HOPE for JUSTICE and the supremacy of our Constitutional Rights as citizens.

    The choice is still ours to fight these demons if we have any faith remaining in our moral values, REGARDLESS of the charges and defamation of Trump that is underway! Our fight is against EVIL, not whether Trump is guilty or innocent as determined by a fake DOJ prosecution mob.

  10. Jim A says:

    Can we go ahead and start referring to Merrick Garland as the “Attorney Specific”? The scope of his work doesn’t seem to be very “general.” He seems to be very focused.

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