Commentary

You will recall, I am sure, how the left plotted to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House with 91 felony counts in four criminal indictments in four different cities.

Democrats had visions of him handcuffed in an orange jump suit and took pleasure in referring to him as a felon, but through it all, he hung in there, even appearing in court when he wasn’t required to be there.

Through it all, he was able to convince voters what the left was up to, and he won big, bigly as he would say.

Trump isn’t the type of man to forget how the Biden administration weaponized the judicial system. You just knew he wasn’t going to forget those who had a hand in it, but he insisted that results would be his revenge.

While appearing to be removed from it, his appointees Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel and Pam Bondi uncovered material implicating a number of individuals and plots to stop Trump.

As I look at those involved, I see the names of people who were thought to be key figures in the effort all along.  I was reminded of the famous line from the movie Casablanca by Captain Renault, played by Claude Rains, “Round up the usual suspects,” a line that has become synonymous when referring to individuals expected to be involved in a particular situation.

Years have passed and the people and their vicious deeds may be cloudy, so as I briefly review the attempts to stop Trump, you will see the faces of the usual suspects who corrupted the justice system while they accused Trump of being a threat to democracy.   “Briefly” because the volume of documents on each suspect is too great to detail here.                           

While the individuals behind those 91 counts in four cities will be familiar to you because they took place during his 2024 campaign, some of the usual suspects I will touch on go back to 2016, and they’re back in the news today.

Suffice it to say that James Comey, the pompous former FBI director,abused the power of his agency and got caught, never expecting his actions to become public. Earlier this month, Comey pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, including making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding.  Of course, that just scratches the surface of Comey’s role in “getting” Trump. A trial date has been set for January 5, 2026.

Although the name of Andrew McCabe hasn’t surfaced recently, in 2018, as the former FBI deputy director, he was fired after launching a counterintelligence investigation into Trump after the firing of Comey.  During questioning, the DOJ’s inspector general concluded that he had leaked misinformation to the media, but he was never indicted.

Christopher Wray was nominated by Trump to replace Comey in June 2017, but despite describing him as a “model of integrity” and “an impeccably qualified individual,” their relationship was fraught with disagreements.

From imbedding agents in the January 6 Capitol crowd, to surveilling Catholic churches for racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and sending 30 armed agents to converge on Mar-a-Lago to execute a search warrant regarding classified documents, Wray was wearing thin with Trump and Sen. Chuck Grassley.

John Bolton, former national security advisor to Trump was in court earlier this month pleading not guilty for keeping classified information at his home – more than 1,000 pages of documents and notes – and sharing classified documents with family members. He was fired by Trump in 2019.  No trial date has been set.

Surely you recall the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials just days before the 2020 election, designed to discredit the New York Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop and to help Biden win.  Antony Blinken collaborated with Michael Morrell, a former CIA deputy director, to fabricate the letter. Biden later nominated Blinken to be his secretary of state, where he was ineffective.

John Brennan, former CIA director, one of the signees of the letter, was recently referred to the DOJ for prosecution for allegedly making false statements to Congress about the Trump-Russia investigation.

In a hoked-up civil fraud case in New York, AG Letitia James and Manhattan AG Alvin Bragg were trying to make good on campaign promises to “get” Trump.  They enlisted the help of Judge Arthur Engoron, who attempted to keep Trump from speaking in public with a gag order.

If ever there was evidence of DOJ’s weaponization it was Michael Colangelo’s decision to abandon his high-profile role as acting associate attorney under Garland who offered his services as assistant prosecutor in Bragg’s office to rejuvenate his investigations. He, too, disliked Trump.

Trump denied any wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated by the Biden administration’s weaponization of the DOJ and AG Merrick Garland.

In 2021, Garland directed the FBI to use counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats, and extremism among Catholics, setting off a firestorm of criticism.

With the 2024 election on the horizon and Trump’s campaign going strong, Garland, his deputy Lisa Monaco, and Wray signed a document authorizing “Arctic Frost,” a probe to surveil telephone records of eight GOP senators and 92 Republican – aligned groups, like Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.

The subpoenaed information was to be provided to Jack Smith, the controversial figure illegally appointed special counsel by Garland to prosecute Trump.  However, in a landmark decision the Supreme Court found Trump and any other president immune from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.

But now, the chickens have come home to roost as DNI Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel have uncovered scandalous documentation that names individuals – those usual suspects – and tactics used to try to stop Trump.  And in what some have called a “juicy” opportunity for payback against Letitia James, she has been charged with real civil fraud.

Regular readers will recall my insistence that these usual suspects be held accountable.  Prison time and fines may be in order, taking away one’s ability to practice law, and at the least public acknowledgement of someone’s guilt.

“Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable.  No one is above the law.” Pam Bondi, Attorney General

May God continue to bless the United States of America.