To be honest, trust in most government institutions has completely collapsed.
Many people don't trust the FDA, the Department of Defense, HUD, the Department of Homeland Security, health agencies, and the list goes on. And they don't trust the media to tell them the basic facts about Washington without bias or error.
These sentiments have basically been building for the past 60 years, ever since lies about Vietnam merged with lies about Watergate and forced Richard Nixon to resign.
Biden, Trump slam Justice Department after president pardons Hunter
But everyone would agree that the most secretive federal agency is the Department of Justice, which includes the FBI. Donald Trump has attacked these institutions (along with “fake news”) for years, accusing them of persecuting him politically. He campaigned outside the courthouse and told reporters that prosecutors and judges are terrible people who are out to get him just because he is the frontrunner to take back the White House. .
Joe Biden didn't just lie when he broke his promise not to pardon his son Hunter. He accused his Justice Department of “selectively and unfairly prosecuting” his son.
I used to patrol the endless hallways of the J. Edgar Hoover Building while the Justice Department beat up reporters. On the criminal side, the Justice Department is considered independent because it often investigates the government. Those days were filled with fair-minded career prosecutors who pursued legitimate leads regardless of political party.
US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are pictured in front of the US Department of Justice headquarters. (Getty Images)
By saying Hunter Biden was singled out for his harsh treatment, the outgoing president is making the same argument as the incoming president that the department is grossly biased. No wonder so many people don't trust the Department of Justice.
Asked repeatedly about pardons and commutations, all Biden had to say was, “I'm not going to discuss hypotheticals.” That way, at least he won't have to lie.
Despite some rough patches, there is no question that Pam Bondi will be the next attorney general, as she has exactly the experience (Florida state prosecutor, career prosecutor) that Matt Gaetz so clearly lacked. She's not going to blow up the department.
But Trump is sending a very different message by choosing Kash Patel to be the FBI's director, ignoring the fact that Chris Wray is yet to complete his 10-year term. And this is not a dark secret. Those are the candidates' own words.
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Mr. Patel has vowed to shut down the agency's Washington headquarters. He said this on Steve Bannon's podcast that we ran on Media Buzz last year. “We're going to go out and find the co-conspirators…not only in the government but also in the media…Whether it's criminal or civil, we're going to solve it.”Outside. “
In his 2022 book, Government Gangsters, Patel named 60 people as members of the deep state, a “cabal cabal of unelected tyrants…the most dangerous threat to our democracy.” names. The media calls this the enemy list.
They include the aforementioned Bill Barr (who blocked his appointment), NSC Chairman John Bolton (an “arrogant control freak”), and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (who tried to fire him). ) is also included.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs from the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware on June 3, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Also included on this list, as detailed by The New Republic.
Joe Biden.
Kamala Harris.
Hillary Clinton.
Merrick Garland.
Samantha Power currently runs the Agency for International Development.
former Obama official James Clapper; John Brennan. Peter Strzok (who accused Trump of text messages with FBI girlfriend Lisa Page), Andrew McCabe (FBI Deputy Director), Eric Holder, and Loretta Lynch.
A surprising number is Donald Trump's own appointee, Pat Cipollone, his White House advisor. Gina Haspel (his CIA director). Mark Esper. Charles Kupperman, Vice President for National Security.
Trump fires Matt Gaetz after complaining about high political costs of defending him
Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows who criticized Trump in testimony before a House committee on January 6th.
It's a pretty big list. And there is little impunity for working for Trump.
Mr. Patel will have his work cut out for him, but he will need a career prosecutor to submit wiretapping requests and search warrants to the court.
Meanwhile, many Democratic Party member In an interview, he is said to have criticized the party's president quite harshly for seeking pardon for Hunter. With the times.
Colorado Congressman Jason Crow: He promised not to do that. I think it will be difficult to talk about defending democracy in the future. ”
Washington State Representative Marie Grusenkamp Perez: “The president made the wrong decision. No family should be above the law.”
The seal of the U.S. Department of Justice is displayed after a press conference on Thursday, December 20, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said Biden's move “puts personal gain above duty and further undermines the American people's trust that our justice system is fair and equal for all.” . His withdrawal from the race midway through meant that he “put his personal interests ahead of his responsibility to the country.''
Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont: “President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter is an understandable move by a loving father, but an unwise move by our nation's chief executive.”
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters: “No.”
It's quite invigorating.
Some progressives came to Biden's defense, including Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who called him “Wow, Joe!” He said a felon with 34 convictions is about to enter the White House, but perhaps he missed the news that Jack Smith had his charges dropped.
On yesterday's Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski said in an interview that she wished Biden had not promised pardons, but said, “Look at what happened on the Trump side, especially when Trump did it himself.'' Especially when you do it in parallel with a pardon”, which it always does, and it looks so hysterically unbalanced! ”
Joe Scarborough said, “Many Democrats, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, many mainstream organizations have scaled this up to a scale that they believe is truly disproportionate, all things considered. I'm dissatisfied with what I'm doing,” he said. What has Mr. Trump done in the past and what is he doing now? ”
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Still, both presidents ended up in the same position when it comes to viewing the Justice Department as partisan and politicized.
One interesting tidbit the Times unearthed: According to three sources, when Biden brought Trump to the White House and listened to his familiar complaints about a biased Justice Department, the president-elect said, along with the “Department, which surprised the host by sympathizing with the Biden family's own problems.'' ”
