At hearing, Kash Patel vows to stop political prosecutions/persecutions if he become FBI head
Having been the victim of government overreach and a weaponized system of justice and law enforcement, I know what it feels like to have the full weight of the United States Government barreling down on you, and as the Biden inspector general determined, those activities by the FBI and DOJ were wholly improper and not predicated upon law and facts. …
I will ensure, if confirmed, that no American is subjected to that kind of torment, to that kind of cost, financially and personally, and most importantly, I will make sure that no American is subjected to death threats like I was, and subjected to moving the residences like I was because of government overreach, because of leaks of information about my personal status.
The FBI and DOJ should never be the conduits for political prosecutions. But of course they were, by the left charging the right in recent years. And although what happened recently was not the only time it’s happened, it represented an enormous increase in the scope of such persecutions and their targets on the right. Patel is determined to stop it and I applaud him.
Of course, at least a third of America and up to half of America probably thinks such prosecutions/persecutions were fully justified. And still another half probably thinks it’s time to turn the tables. The problem is figuring out how to make sure there are negative consequences for those people who did the persecuting while at the same time refraining from purely political prosecutions of the left by the right. Some on the right would say it’s payback time, but it doesn’t seem like Patel is saying that.
Here’s Megyn Kelly on the subject:
The lawfare in general was the biggest turning point.
The lawfare was a catastrophic mistake by the Democrats. Trying to criminalize a political battle, trying to go after one’s political opponent with criminal charges. And on top of that, civil cases that could ruin a man trying to put him in jail was a bridge too far.
The electorate rejected it out of hand as too much.
It made the Democrats look radical. It made the Democrats look like they were the ones who were anti-democratic. It undermined their core argument against Trump On January 6th. They shot themselves in the foot.
It was a before and after moment that we now cannot get back. Now we’ve crossed the Rubicon and anything’s possible. If Adam Schiff or Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden winds up facing criminal charges under a Trump administration, I can tell you there are very few Republican voters who will feel sorry for them.
They brought it upon themselves. We had never done this before.
I wouldn’t feel sorry for them. But I don’t recommend prosecuting them unless the charges are completely egregious and their guilt completely clear. Otherwise, it’s enough to investigate and publicize the wrongdoing. Many many people – most people? – on the right will disagree with me. But I happen to think that prosecuting political opponents is a minefield, and if you’re going to stand against doing it you have to be willing to let some offenses go. It’s a difficult decision, but I think it’s necessary, and it sounds to me as though Patel would agree with me, although I’m not sure.
Lawfare & “government overreach” are integral parts of the Rule of Law, and no one is ever going to be able to stop it from happening…stop it permanently anyway.
He is probably talking about the Federal levels of lawfare & “government overreach” – but that is just the tip of the iceberg…
Trump, the despiser of DIVERSITY(TM)!
Democrats, the lovers of DIVERSITY(TM)…when it suits ‘em…
Heads on pikes sounds like a good compromise to me.
I know charges of hypocrisy don’t stick to Democrats, but during Trump’s impeachment over the Ukrainian phone call the Democrats claimed that even *investigating* the front runner of the opposition party — even if the charges were true — was unconstitutional election interference for which Trump should be removed from office. And Biden hadn’t even been formally nominated at the time the phone call occurred — he was just the front runner.
As much as I don’t want to get into escalating tit-for-tat investigations, something has to be done to dissuade the Democrats of this form of persecution. We can’t go on with the double standards as lopsided as they are and still have a republic. How to square that circle I don’t know, but something must be done.
I think a portion of the residue of swing voters were disgusted by the lawfare and it was a motivator for the Republican electorate. Democratic voters are perfectly comfortable with that. It’s a perfectly sociopathic political tendency. The minority who were not have left the Democratic Party.
“. . . I happen to think that prosecuting political opponents is a minefield, . . . [Neo]
I agree, and yet if there are no repurcussions for such behavior there is no disincentive to stop it. I do not think it unreasonable to hold primary players responsible. It seems that Milley might prove to be such an example.
Patel addressed the tit-for-tat issue under questioning from Sen. John Kennedy (LA):
https://x.com/townhallcom/status/1885016912305832068?mx=2
At the 5:30 mark. But watch the whole thing.
I do not think it unreasonable to hold primary players responsible. It seems that Milley might prove to be such an example.
–T
Quite so.
Examples must be made, but not the pedal-to-the-metal efforts Dems made to personally humiliate, ruin and imprison the objects of their ire.
If Trump had had all his wealth stripped away and been frogmarched into prison for life, that would have been just fine for Democrats.
It’s a testament to the American system and the American people that that didn’t happen.
“It’s a testament to the American system and the American people that that didn’t happen.” [huxley @7:45]
And also a testament to the power of information sharing. Greg Lukianoff briefly discusses the importance of the rise of universally available knowledge and its political implications in the following essay (H/T Instapundit):
The velocity of the conversation — now exponentially increased from the printing press to internet. And as always such sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Link: https://eternallyradicalidea.com/p/institutional-decay-henry-viiis-big