Commentary
The importance of research, nurtured over many years of journalistic reporting and as an Air Force historian, has aided me as I attempt to give you information not normally provided by the media.
While researching the background of Special Counsel Jack Smith, I learned of prosecutorial losses under his watch as the head of the Justice Department’s public integrity unit, 2010 to 2015, namely his conviction of former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell, that was overturned by the Supreme Court.
As is the case of the Washington bureaucracy, the incestuous nature of the Justice Department is evidenced in Smith’s background. It seems as though Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney general 2014-2017 under President Obama, and Marshall Miller, an advisor to President Biden’s deputy attorney general Lisa O. Monaco, are credited with convincing Monaco and AG Merrick Garland that Smith was the man to nail former President Trump.
Incidentally, Monaco served as counsel to the director of Homeland Security prior to being named deputy AG in April 2021. Prior to that, she served as chief of staff to Robert Mueller at the FBI and was counsel to Janet Reno, attorney general under President Clinton.
If the left finds it appropriate to criticize the spouse of Republican officials, then the fact that Smith’s wife, Kate Chevigny, produced a movie about former first lady Michelle Obama, and is credited with producing “Becoming,“ a 2020 documentary about President Obama is also appropriate. She is also on record for donating $2,000 to Biden’s 2020 campaign.
That’s the incestuous nature of Washington’s dealings. You may recall my past references to Jake Sullivan, who was “up to here” in the Hillary Clinton cabal, is now President Biden’s national security advisor. Sullivan’s wife, Maggie Goodlander, is counsel to AG Garland.
News Related to the Trump Indictment
It figures, The New York Times, the left’s lead bulldog in the mainstream media, published a lengthy piece on past Espionage Act cases in which those found guilty went to jail. Stating that “former President Donald J. Trump faces legal peril under a 100-year-old law that has been used to prosecute spies and leakers,” the Times claims Trump faces 31 counts of willfully retaining national defense secrets, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.”
With emotions high over the indictment of the former president, I found it interesting that Louisiana Republican Rep. Clay Higgins cautioned conservative Americans about “falling for the trap” if they choose to protest against his indictment.
“The Department of Justice would like to have Jan. 6 again. The DOJ/FBI does not expect to imprison Trump, they expect to imprison you. They want Jan. 6 again. They are hoping to provoke conservative Americans. Do not fall for the trap.”
During Trump’s rally at his New Jersey golf club Tuesday evening, he told supporters that it was they, not him, who are the ones Justice is after.
The documents …“The key legal issue here is the interplay between the Presidential Records Act and the Espionage Act,” said Will Scharf a former federal prosecutor.
Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the National Archives and Records Administration takes custody of all official records when the president leaves office. That did not happen because of Trump’s belief in ownership. The law allows former presidents to keep personal documents such as diaries, journals, or other personal items. In his remarks Tuesday evening he referred to the assortment of personal items – photos, shirts, caps, and other memorabilia mixed in the storage boxes.
“Whatabout” has become part of the glossary of terms used by pundits covering the Trump indictment – “Whatabout” the manner in which Justice treated Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Pence, and Joe Biden for mishandling classified documents? The unequal application of the law speaks loudly and clearly.
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has stepped aside for Magistrate Johnathan Goodman to handle the Trump case in the interest of judicial integrity – optics.
May God continue to bless the United States of America during this period of polarization in America.