Commentary
Donald Trump came to Washington as an outsider with the pledge to drain the swamp, and in many respects, he was successful, but he obviously didn’t really understand the depth of the deep state, nor the audacity of its bureaucrats to block attempts to harness their power.
As president, Trump worked tirelessly to make Washington accountable to the American people. His effort went beyond uncovering and removing individuals who fought change.
As a businessman he sought to change the “we’ve always done it that way” attitude. He was tired of the swamp’s failed, recycled ideas, endless wars, disastrous trade deals, burdensome regulations, time-consuming permit approvals, and the uncontrolled illegal human and drug traffic crossing our southern border.
The swamp dwellers, leftovers of past administrations, fought him even before he took office. They attended resistance meetings to learn how to obstruct him. He may have become unpopular among them, but his supporters admired his efforts to take on big government.
After a few hiccups, Trump had help instilling his policies with cabinet appointees like Mike Pompeo at State, Rick Perry at Energy and Bill Barr at Justice.
Michael Horowitz’s work as the inspector general for the Justice Department resulted in the ouster of FBI agents Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Kevin Clinesmith. It gave Americans their first real look at how their highest law enforcement agency was complicit in the attempt to tie Trump to collusion with Russia.
Two impeachments of Trump failed to succeed, despite statements made by radical Democrats that they “had the goods” on him.
The effort to get Trump at any cost continued with another wave of FBI agents suppressing the news of the Hunter Biden laptop and Biden family corruption in the month leading up to the 2020 election.
As recent as last week, Facebook CEO Jeff Zuckerberg revealed being approached by the FBI at that time, and told to view anything on the laptop to be more Russian disinformation.
Even the liberal HBO comedian host of Real Time, Bill Maher, referred to the “conspiracy” to keep the laptop story quiet until after the election, so they could “get rid” of former President Trump.
“They buried the Hunter Biden story before the election because they were, like, “we can’t risk having the election thrown to Trump. We’ll tell them (the voters) after the election. Look, let’s not pussyfoot around this – he was selling the influence of his father, Joe Biden.” – Bill Maher
Thanks to a dozen or so FBI agent whistleblowers, who visited the offices of Rep. Jim Jordan and Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, the cover was blown on fellow agents involved in the suppression of the laptop.
After months of investigation, Timothy Thibualt, a top-level FBI agent, turned in his badge and gun and was walked out of the FBI, and another agent, Brian Auten, may soon follow.
Fellow blogger, Tom Knighton, wonders how Thibault could be solely responsible for the suppression of the laptop. Was he a convenient scapegoat due to the fact that he was near retirement?
A thorough overhaul of the FBI is required to restore public confidence in the organization, but that will call for the removal of director Christopher Wray, who has been unwilling to take the effort seriously.
Still, however, the January 6, House Select Committee hasn’t given up in its effort to prevent Trump-endorsed House and Senate candidates from winning in the midterms and the former president from seeking reelection in 2024.
New Positions for Swamp Dwellers
I’ve previously written how former intelligence officers like Jim Clapper and John Brennan found homes at MSNBC as contributors, but in an unusual revolving door move, MSNBC pundit, Jeremy Bash, has been named by Biden to his Intelligence Advisory Board. Revolving, because he previously served as chief of staff to Leon Panetta when he was Secretary of Defense.
Like Panetta, Bash was one of the 51 former intelligence officers who signed the October 19, 2020 letter attempting to quash the laptop story as Russian disinformation.
Incidentally, without embarrassment, Panetta now heads the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University, a not-for-profit 50l (c)(3) organization committed to … wait for it … inspiring men and women to lives of public service.
And then there’s this …
In another example of the swamp taking care of their own, Nikole Flax, has been tapped to establish a new, centralized office in charge of implementing Biden’s latest tax and spending bill, including oversight of the 87,000 new authorized agents.
Who is Nikole Flax? She worked at the IRS under Lois Lerner, who infamously targeted conservative political organizations like the Tea Party. She was one of seven administrators whose hard drives mysteriously self-destructed, preventing House investigators from viewing e-mails.
Flax made 31 visits to the White House during the investigation period, leaving little doubt that former President Obama or members of his staff were aware of the IRS shenanigans.
MY SELECTION OF SEPTEMBER FOOL’S DAY “honors” goes to Christopher Wray, the incompetent director of the FBI.
AND FINALLY … When Fox’s Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if it made sense to her that tennis star Novak Djokovic was barred from coming to New York to play in the U.S. Open due to his refusal to take a Covid vaccine, while thousands of unvaccinated illegals walk across the border daily.
“But that’s not how it works,” she said. “It’s not like somebody walks over and …”
To that, Doocy said, “That’s exactly what’s happening.”
With just 68 days until the midterm elections, may God continue to bless the United States of America.
