Commentary

I’m guilty.  I’ve been thinking about writing this piece since November 4, 2020, after the election, when we were told we might expect U.S. Attorney John Durham to release his findings on the wrongdoings of the Deep State against President Trump.

I’m guilty of lifting the idea for my headline from an article by Marc Ruskin in The Epoch Times, “Time for the Hammer to Drop,” although Ruskin most likely didn’t write the headline himself; they have headline writers to do that, but it hits the mark.

After months of anticipating Durham’s report, in July Attorney General William Barr told a House Judiciary Committee hearing that he would not commit to delaying the release of the Durham report until after the election. That was good news.

However, Barr had earlier indicated that Durham had uncovered “very troubling” information and is investigating people whose names are familiar to the public, and the anticipation grew.  Naming names would certainly help President Trump’s reelection chances.

In September, Barr, in an interview on CNN, stated that DOJ would comply with long-standing department policies to avoid influencing an election, indicating that Durham’s report would not be released until after November.  To reveal what he has found or to hand down indictments would be viewed as “political.”  That was a let down for those of us wanting accountability. Weren’t the sabotage efforts by those within the DOJ and FBI against a sitting president “political,” I recall writing previously?

“Now that the ballots have been cast,” writes Ruskin, a 27-year veteran of the FBI,  “he’s no longer restrained by this policy.  Should Biden be sworn in as president and select cabinet members, there’s little doubt that any criminal prosecutions initiated by the Barr Justice Department would be rapidly buried by a Biden-appointed attorney general.”  And that goes for the accusations against the Biden family, too.

Just days after Ruskin’s plea to “drop the hammer” was published, those close to the investigation seemed to give truth to rumors that there would be no indictments, no report.

“He’s (Durham) isn’t doing anything.  Dropping the investigation.  He’s worried about blowback from Biden.  What an absolute disgrace.” tweeted Sean Davis of The Federalist.

“It is with desperation that Trump supporters – those of us who are faithful to the Constitution and expect our elected officials to be faithful to it as well  – are distraught at the rumor that Durham is giving up on his investigation of the coup-plotters, who broke every law on the books in their attempt to derail the Trump presidency, wrote Patricia McCarthy in American Thinker.

“We were led to believe that AG Barr and his team meant business,” she wrote, “they would seek justice for the president and all those in his inner circle, who were so egregiously targeted by that group of self-appointed elitists.”

“But this is how business is done in Washington DC,” writes Bonchie in the blog Red State. “It doesn’t matter how corrupt something is, these agencies cover for each other.  No one ever pays for what they do, and the game continues.

Maybe I’m naïve, but I believed Barr was the man to take on the Deep State wrongdoing.  Jeff Sessions surely wasn’t able to do it.  The fact that he saw things that were “very troubling” gave me optimism. And, like Trump, he didn’t “need” the job at this stage of his career and life, but believed he could be of further service to his country.

Barr’s appointment of Durham to conduct the investigation also gave me high hopes.  He had previous experience as a special prosecutor investigating potential wrongdoing among national security officials, including the FBI’s ties to crime boss Whitey Bulger in Boston and accusations of CIA abuses of detainees. An FBI agent went to jail for 10 years.  Just the guy, I thought, to look into the activities of Comey, McCabe and Strzok.

Even with all that we have witnessed during the four-year assault on President Trump, I never foresaw a white-wash.

There is still time for Barr and Durham to drop the hammer; to go out on a justice high by mustering the courage to make the corrupters of the Deep State accountable.  If not, it appears now as though the swamp wins.  And that will send a message to those who would consider similar corrupt activities in the future.

Remember this when you hear those on the left say “no one is above the law.”

May God bless the United States of America.