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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPaul Waldman, WaPo: Trump is already set to use the government to destroy the Democratic nominee
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/02/trump-is-already-set-use-government-destroy-democratic-nominee/So get ready. Trump is going to order the Justice Department to launch an investigation of his opponent probably more than one and Barr will likely do so eagerly. It doesnt matter how trivial the substance is, as we learned in 2016 when the fact that Hillary Clinton used the wrong email became the dominant issue of the campaign. Did Elizabeth Warren shake hands with a guy whose cousins neighbor dated a mobster? The Justice Department will investigate. Did Bernie Sanders have a congressional intern whose police officer dad fixed a parking ticket for him? The FBI is on it. Did Kamala Harris prosecute someone whose lawyers husband got a state contract? Investigations are ongoing.
Republicans will cry that whatever it is, its the crime of the century. The federal investigations will give it the patina of legitimacy, and the media will dutifully cover it with all the speculative insinuation they can muster. (Questions are being raised, after all.) And it wont just be the Justice Department rest assured, right now in the White House theyre working hard to figure out how the entire government can be put to the task of reelecting Trump.
As I said, previous presidents have done that in small ways with limited effects. But Trumps corruption, his lack of concern for laws and norms, his contempt for the very idea that the federal government exists for a purpose other than to serve him all of these are already more than apparent. And we havent yet seen how far hes willing to go to retain power.
I'm seeing lots of warnings about this today.
We've been hearing for a while that with Barr, Trump finally got his Roy Cohn.
But Roy Cohn didn't have a Justice Department to weaponize...
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)American people will be aware of this and as usual, it will backfire on the GOP.
SWBTATTReg
(22,100 posts)global1
(25,241 posts)that Obama did this to him - so if Obama can do it - so can I?
And it is only in Trump's mind that Obama did this to him. Trump made this up and is using it to support his false claims as being wronged by Obama and the Dems. This is part of what Trump calls the 'coup' that was supposedly initiated against him.
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)The federal investigations will give it the patina of legitimacy....NOPE!!!
Nuggets
(525 posts)does the FBI allow themselves to be used like this?
They lose credibility each time they take on these ridiculous scandals created by Republicans.
Did Bernie Sanders have a congressional intern whose police officer dad fixed a parking ticket for him?. The FBI is on it.
hedda_foil
(16,371 posts)Nuggets
(525 posts)however, the FBI has now made the extremely careless comment going against protocol.
The FBI gave a feeble warning to the Clinton campaigns front desk about possibly being hacked by Russia
Then they held onto A Weiners phone emails until the 11th hour causing Comey to call the Republicans about him having to look into more info, lied about the weeks , maybe months it would take to crosscheck the emails.
Comey then waited until a week before the election to clear Clinton s name, too long for mail in votes.
Then the FBI doesnt want Obama to inform public about Russian hacking and election interference with an added threat from McConnell.
Then they were used to do a half assed investigation to get the headlines the Kavanaugh was clean was even though they refused to interview all this witnesses who called the FBI
directly
Rosenstein , who took over direction if the FBI investigation is now outed as dirty.
Given their history, Id say the WP is spot on with the probability the FBI will be right on it.
So again I ask, why does the FBI allow themselves to be used like ths?