“Unprecedented,” “banana republic,” and “third world bulls***” were among the phrases used to describe the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home this week. Though we still don’t know much about the raid, it’s easy to understand why so many people have found it disturbing.
Based on interviews with eyewitnesses and those familiar with the situation, the New York Post reported that FBI agents asked Trump’s lawyers, who arrived an hour after the raid had begun, to turn off surveillance cameras at the residence, which they refused to do, and to remain outside, which they did.
The search warrant for the raid, which began at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m., “focused solely on presidential records and evidence of classified information being stored there,” the New York Post reported. And yet, witnesses told the Post that agents “scoured Melania Trump’s wardrobe and spent several hours combing through Donald Trump’s private office, breaking open his safe and rifling through drawers.”
Among the officials present for the search were three attorneys from the Department of Justice, who, according to one witness, repeatedly said, “We have full access to everything. We can go everywhere.”
The FBI removed 15 boxes of documents that had been kept in a locked basement storage room. A legal source informed the New York Post that “the boxes had been packed up by the General Services Administration and shipped to Mar-a-Lago when Trump left office in January 2020.”
This raid occurred even though Trump’s lawyers had been fully cooperating with attorneys for the National Archives and Records Administration on the return of the documents.
Regardless of whether the FBI’s reasons for obtaining a warrant to search Trump’s home were legitimate, this was a remarkable exercise of authority. As such, it’s impossible to believe the raid would have occurred without the consent of Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and even President Joe Biden himself.
While politics has always been a scrappy arena, Trump has radicalized Democrats and brought them to a level of derangement that few could have predicted. The full-court press to ruin Trump began almost as soon as he secured the GOP nomination and has continued to this day. It started with the Russiagate hoax, which was manufactured by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and carried out by the top ranks of the FBI and DOJ. We now know the FBI falsified information on a FISA court warrant application in order to spy on Trump’s campaign, pushed the debunked Steele dossier as fact knowing full well that its sourcing was bogus, and openly bragged about trying to stop Trump from becoming president.
If people don’t trust the FBI anymore, this is why. The unbelievable lengths to which Democrats were willing to go have upended the public’s faith in our institutions and the rule of law itself. The same folks who brought us the Trump-Russia collusion hoax and two needless impeachments refused to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information, allegedly covered up crimes committed by Hunter Biden, declined to prosecute illegal protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, and turned a blind eye to violent attacks against pro-life organizations and pregnancy centers. There are two standards in this country, and there have been for a long time.
Equal application of the law is the single most essential feature of a democratic republic. Without it, a nation cannot call itself a democracy.
Those of us who want accountability shouldn’t bother waiting around for the FBI and DOJ to do the right thing. They’ve already proved they’re more than willing to break the rules when Trump is involved.
Instead, we should focus our efforts on electing people who will have the power to force the DOJ and FBI to be transparent. This means voting for Republican candidates who are less conservative than they would like, such as Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for Senate in Pennsylvania.
Every race matters. And even though Republicans are riding on what seems to be a red wave, nothing is guaranteed. Republicans will likely win back the House, but control of the Senate is far less certain.
Please vote.
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. Her articles have appeared on many websites, including MSN, RedState, Newsmax, the Federalist, and RealClearPolitics. Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.
