(Also) In Front of Our Noses: The Ongoing Corruption of DoJ
More attacks on political enemies.
To continue the topic of abuse of power that demonstrates the need for massive reforms to how criminal justice matters are handled at the federal level, comes yet another example of using the Department of Justice as a political arm of the administration to attack Trump’s opponents. The NYT reports: Trump Administration Begins Criminal Inquiry Into Minnesota Leaders.
The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into elected Democrats in Minnesota, according to a senior law enforcement official familiar with the matter, a major escalation in the fight between the federal government and local officials over the aggressive immigration crackdown underway in the city.
The investigation would focus on allegations that Gov. Tim Walz and Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, had conspired to impede thousands of federal agents who have been sent to the city since last month.
This is nothing more than using the DoJ to punish political speech (which is supposed to be protected by the First Amendment) so as to silence political opponents. Like most things this administration does, it is an attempt to use force and strength to get what it wants instead of deploying less confrontational types of politics. Moreover, it is an attempt to undercut federalism.
You know, as the party of “states’ rights” is prone to do.
At any rate, the post-Watergate reliance on norms to keep the DoJ quasi-independent from the president has proven to be a dangerously false protection, and if we ever get the chance, it is something that needs rectification. The administration of justice cannot be allowed to be centered in the hands of a single individual. There are plenty of models worldwide that could be emulated that allow for a far more independent attorney general.
Walz is correct here:
“Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic,” Mr. Walz said in a statement released by his office, which said it had not yet received notice of an investigation. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”
It is pretty grotesque that Ross (the man who killed Good) is not being investigated. Indeed, the lack of investigation actually underscores that his actions were not defensible. If a real investigation would exonerate him, then an investigation we would have.
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Time for irony:
This is found in Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand.
Now, to be fair, the line is delivered by one of the antagonists, not one of the protagonists, and it’s a description of how an authoritarian state operates. But who’s doing this now, for real?