Commentary
By now, those of you who are regular readers of this blog, are aware of my persistent plea that individuals and agencies, who have failed Americans for one reason or another, be held accountable.
In 2022 alone, I devoted four editions to the subject of accountability, beginning with “Accountability: So Easy to Understand, So Difficult to Secure,” on March 21, 2022, and ending on December 12, 2022 with “The Politicization of Justice Won’t Result in True Accountability.”
Having appointed Jack Smith as general counsel to investigate the document raid at former President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, Attorney General Merrick Garland had little choice but to investigate the discovery of classified documents in the office of the Penn-Biden Center, and quietly asked John Lausch of Illinois to conduct the investigation.
That was followed by the selection of Steven Hur to investigate the presence of additional classified documents in Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware residence garage and office.
While these investigations are taking place, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives are planning to conduct a concurrent investigation into the weaponization of the Justice Department.
The FBI’s collusion with social media to withhold information on Hunter Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 election, as well as its strategy of raiding Mar-a-Lago while Trump was in New York, will be a subject of hearings.
Of course, Garland stated that he “strongly believes that the normal processes of the Department can handle all investigations with integrity,” while adding that he was “confident that Mr.Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner in accordance with the highest traditions of his Department.”
Interestingly, he added that Hur’s appointment “underscores for the public the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability …”
Although I have come to respect Fox News for allowing Geraldo Rivera, a bleeding-heart liberal, to espouse his views, nevertheless, I was disappointed in his view he repeated on “The Five.” Referring to the appointments of both the Trump and Biden special counsels as “lame,” he embarrassingly stated on Twitter:
“Scold both of them and revoke their library cards. Then, for the good of the country, move on. This case as 0 impact on the American people.”
“Biden’s own document embarrassment should just give DOJ more reason to drop the probe of Trump’s documents. Neither had criminal intent. Why bother with bull****?”
In other words, no accountability. For either man.
There were a few people who took Rivera to task. “Suppose Biden was storing top secret docs about Ukraine to keep people from finding out how corrupt he has been, how many millions they’ve given him for influence,” tweeted Cleveland talk show host Dave Perkins.
A social media post by @MilenkaAmit suggested that “whitewashing a VP stealing classified documents (which may include references to topics/nations Hunter was in business dealings with) is NOT the best look for Geraldo.”
A few anchors on the left-leaning networks are giving the document findings some air time. Joe “Morning Joe” Scarborough on MSNBC surprisingly referred to the actions of the Biden administration in the midst of the scandal as “amateur hour.”
Reminiscent of Lesley Stahl’s “60 Minutes” remark during her 2020 interview with President Trump that content of the Hunter Biden lap top “could not be verified,” NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, during an interview with Sen. Ron Johnson, said, “Senator, senator, do you have a crime that you think Hunter Biden committed because I’ve yet to see anybody explain. It is not a crime to make money off of your last name.”
I found it laughable that Todd said, “I’m a journalist. I have to deal in facts.”
In an example of double-standard journalism, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a Democrat, recalled a Todd interview with the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff on Trump foreign deals and bank loans. Without contradiction by Todd, Schiff said, “if Trump’s business dealings are a form of compromise, it needs to be exposed.”
Then there’s the reaction to Biden’s troubles by the once-credible establishment conservative columnist Mona Charen, now a Never Trumper, writing in TIME magazine. Commenting that the scandal looks “like the kind of dodgy, hide-the-ball behavior that Biden should have been above, Charen referenced Biden as the man “dismayed by the spectacle classified documents on the floor of Mar-a-Lago,” she now finds “demoralizing for those who believe Biden’s chief accomplishment – and purpose – as president has been to restore a modicum of trust to a nation that has been sunk in suspicion and bitterness for too long.” Concluding with “being not-Trump demands better.”
Red State found Charen’s insinuation that this was Biden’s “first real hiccup” was laughable. “Was she asleep when he destroyed Afghanistan and then claimed victory,” it asks.
Biden’s botched Afghan withdrawal is another accountability that needs to be surfaced so that in the future such weighty President/Joint Chiefs decisions are considered by Congress. Rep. Michael McCaul the new House Foreign Relations Committee chairman, plans to conduct such a probe.
Determining accountability is important. People and agencies don’t necessarily have to go to jail, but their actions or lack thereof, need to be made public.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
