For ordinary mortals, a raid conducted by the Department of Justice against your home would be career-ending. But President Trump again exceeds expectations by fighting back and winning against the tactics of the Deep State.
A federal judge in Florida dramatically ruled in Trump’s favor last week, granting his request to retrieve the documents taken from his home, and transfer them to an independent special master for review. More significantly, the judge ordered the Justice Department to stop its overzealous investigation of Trump until the document review is completed.
The Deep State is hopping mad, joined by allies in the liberal media. A chorus of unjustified criticism has reverberated from Never-Trumpers, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, against Judge Aileen Cannon’s well-reasoned ruling in favor of Trump.
“As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own,” Judge Cannon found. “A future indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude,” she added.
Instead of accepting the judge’s wise ruling, the Biden Administration immediately filed a motion demanding that it be suspended during the appeal that Biden’s Justice Department plans.
On Monday, Trump’s attorneys pushed back hard. “In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control,” they wrote, “the government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own presidential and personal records.”
Trump’s attorneys rightly object to how the Justice Department, which is stocked with diehard political enemies of Trump, seeks to “proceed straight to a preordained conclusion” against him.
The unprecedented FBI raid on Donald Trump’s home (not his “country club” as former AG Barr sneeringly called it) is one of several ways the Deep State is trying to destroy Trump’s reputation. Another way is its relentless harassment of Trump’s supporters.
Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s finest advisers who was with him for all four years of his presidency, has reportedly been hit with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. Other top Trump aides have also been required to testify before a grand jury apparently convened to try to indict Trump.
Even Trump’s attorneys have been targeted for retaliation by the Deep State. The sick joke today is that MAGA means “make attorneys get attorneys,” which is what many of Trump’s attorneys have had to do as they get harassed by the Deep State.
Even the federal judge who ruled for Trump has received death threats from someone who apparently hates Trump. Although concealed by the liberal media, a woman who left three voicemails threatening the judge was arrested last week in Houston.
The Biden Administration continues to abuse its investigatory powers by conducting a surprise seizure of cell phones belonging to Trump supporters. The cell phones of Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman, both prominent supporters of Trump, were recently seized by the Justice Department.
It also reportedly issued dozens of broadly worded subpoenas in just the past week demanding information about the activities of Trump and his supporters in late 2020. This is an unprecedented assault against the top contender for the presidency in 2024.
Fortunately, Trump will regain his pardon power when he is reelected to the White House. But some weak Republicans are criticizing his promise to use it generously, including pardoning those prosecuted for joining the political rally at the Capitol on January 6.
These Republican critics of pardoning the victims of the Deep State fail to appreciate where the divide has developed in our country. It is no longer North versus South, but the D.C. elite versus the rest of the country.
Federal prosecutors have virtually unlimited resources without accountability, in contrast with local prosecutors. Federal Judge Aileen Cannon was right to hold that “the investigation and treatment of a former president is of unique interest to the general public, and the country is served best by an orderly process that promotes the interest and perception of fairness.”
The power brokers in D.C., through misuse of the Justice Department, wrongly attempt to decide for the entire country whether Trump will be our next president. The Deep State is going all out to do anything they can to block Trump from the White House and interfere with the Republicans gaining control of the House in less than two months.
Judge Cannon’s splendid ruling in favor of Trump was a flash of light amid this sea of darkness. From there it will go to the Eleventh Circuit, which hopefully by now recognizes how dangerous it is when the Justice Department insists on overzealous actions against the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.