I’m really, REALLY sick of conservatives (and of course Trump in particular) repeatedly spouting forth copious amounts of “legal” brown organic waste. To wit, some variation of:
No President/former President has ever been pursued by the legal system. Why is Trump being “persecuted” by DOJ and state/local prosecutors! No one in his position has ever, ever EVER faced such legal scrutiny! (Sob. Followed by collapse on to fainting couch)
I call Bullsh*t!!!
If conservatives and Trump himself don’t like him being treated like a criminal then he shouldn’t have committed so many crimes! To all the whining about no President has been investigated over, much less charged with the crimes Trump has been investigated and charged for it’s because no other President/former President has done the things, committed the crimes Trump has!
It both stuns and pi$$es me off that so many don’t grasp such simple logic. What infuriates me even more is there are so many with the power and platform to do so using misinformation and LIES as Weapons of Mass Distraction to keep the masses from latching onto that logic I just stated. The real world potential fates I would consign these people to are much to dark to state.
What matters though is that a concerted effort has to be made to counter the conservative (and Trump’s) bullsh*t that he’s being unfairly prosecuted and that no other person like him has faced serious criminal investigation. That simply is false. I can prove it.
Now, I realize some folks groan when I go providing details but I promise two things – that it WON’T take all that long to read and also that the time will be well spent. So having said that let’s take a little trip down memory lane (for folks say over sixty like me) or recent history for you younger folks. (I promise, this whole article will take maybe five minutes at most to read)
Fifty years ago we had a President by the name of Nixon. Even MAGA goobers know the name. And try as they might to forget, or purge from their minds his fall from power he committed not just gross abuses of power but CRIMES. He resigned in disgrace. He didn’t want to, but if his paranoia had gotten out of control he was still a smart and skilled lawyer and politician and he knew several things. First was that when SCOTUS (with multiple Justices HE had appointed) unanimously ruled against him and that he’d have to turn over audio tapes which he knew included evidence of his crimes he was pretty much screwed. Yes, DOJ had created a now infamous (and since problematic) memo that allowed prosecution of a VP (He really needed to dump the criminal Agnew) but also said a sitting President couldn’t be indicted. Only impeached and removed. AFTER which the criminal justice system could do its thing.
Second, despite still having plenty of support with both House and Senate Republicans (out of Party loyalty if nothing else – Nixon wasn’t a terribly likeable guy) it wasn’t enough. When Senator Barry Goldwater went to the WH with the news that the full House would vote to approve the Articles of Impeachment the House Judiciary Committee had approved, and that he (Nixon) didn’t have enough support in the Senate to survive a final vote to convict him and remove him from office he was toast. That brings us to the third thing, which (again, Nixon was a good lawyer) was that once that happened he’d be at the mercy of the courts. And that he’d be just like any other rich and powerful defendant. That in turn meant his best chance at avoiding the fate some of his minions were already suffering (time in federal prison) he needed to cut a deal, or at least make a gesture that would get him some leniency. So he resigned.
Rest assured however that the DOJ had built a strong case, and had a simple and direct “road map” set to go for the prosecution of President Richard M. Nixon once he was plain citizen and former President Nixon. The ONLY thing that stopped Nixon from being hauled into federal court, tried and convicted was his successor Gerald Ford pardoning him! Around sixty (if memory serves) of Nixon’s people were convicted or pled guilty to federal crimes and the bulk did time. Only Ford’s pardon kept Nixon from joining their ranks.
So we have that example.
Let’s jump to Reagan and Iran-Contra. I won’t spend as much time on this one but it all boils down to Reagan wanting to support some anti-communist fighters in Nicaragua and when Congress specifically blocked him from funding them he tried an end-around the law. He made a deal with Iran to help free some hostages in exchange for funneling support to the Nicaraguan rebels, the “Contras.” The whole thing was discovered and blew up into a major scandal. Congress held hearings, and that’s how Ollie North who was prior to that an unknow Marine attached to the WH became a household name. He and National Security Advisor John Poindexter would wind up convicted on federal charges but since Congress, eager to make a public spectacle granted immunity their convictions were overturned on appeal. However, the investigation didn’t end and DOJ was still digging into the Bush 41 Presidency.
Reagan (and others) wasn’t entirely off the hook and DOJ in fact WAS making some progress. As for Bush 41 himself, he was never really part of Reagan’s team, a trusted insider. He likely knew nothing about all the goings on other than hints from people he knew from his own days in the intel community, and what he read/heard in the news. Still, he didn’t want his own name to come up which it probably would have given some others in the prior administration were being targeted. That’s when none other that Bill Barr was brought in as AG. Yes, THAT Bill Barr. To figure out how to shut the whole thing down and by golly he did. To protect Bush 41, who might one day face charges of his own!
Next we come to one President Bill Clinton. And my oh my did prosecutors go after HIM! Ken Starr played a real life version of Les Miserables’ Inspector Javert, searching for something, anything to “get” Clinton on. Years and years he and his team (including a young Federalist Society lawyer who’s now a Justice – somehow Brewski Brett found time to come up with aggressive and novel approaches to getting Clinton) searched for a crime. Anything, including the civil case with Paula Jones got folded into Starr’s wide ranging brief to investigate a sitting President. In the end, it was the monkey business with a freaking intern that did Clinton in. Like many a married person in (usually) a divorce proceeding he thought he could get away with some lying about extramarital activity. Clinton thought too much of himself and committed perjury. And conservatives rejoiced like their Jeebus had come down from heaven. “We GOT him!” They proclaimed with unbridled joy.
Of course, in the process Starr went to extraordinary lengths but no matter.
And believe me GOPers were counting down the days until Clinton’s term expired and he could be hauled into court to face a perjury charge for lying about what amounted to some high schoolers engaging in some backseat “petting” and a half-a$$ed blowjob. Contrary to popular belief Clinton wasn’t actually convicted of perjury. He cut a deal just before leaving office to surrender his law license for five years and pay a fine. The point is that GOPers pursued Clinton for YEARS and created novel legal theories and even some case law (which they ignored when Trump came along) to go after him with the full weight of the justice system.
Ok, I’ve written a lot. I know folks hate that. But this time I don’t think I had any choice. Because it’s necessary to put the pursuit of Trump, and HIS crimes in perspective.
Trump is NOT the only President to have been investigated by and faced charges from the legal system.
Also, NO President (including Nixon) has committed the number of crimes Trump has. If some of the charges are unprecedented (and some are) it’s because NO OTHER PRESIDENT has done the things Trump has done. Either as a private citizen or as President and then former President!
If he didn’t want to be treated like an effing criminal then by god he should have committed so many goddamned crimes!
In a way it’s true – for Don the cry baby, consider this:
YOU ARE NOT THE PRESIDENT
You’re an EX-president – you got fired.
Well done, concise, and to the point!!!
Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking, every time they say those words. Maybe our democratic reps should be saying this too.
Thanks again, denis.
Let’s see: SCORE – Republicans: Nixon, Regan, B41, tRump = 4 for REAL crimes
Democratic Party members: Clinton (Bill) = 1 for a not really crime
Oh, and then there’s Clinton (Hillary) – Benghazi and her emails = a big fat 0
Yeah, maybe if they stopped criming…
You forgot B2 – he didn’t commit any regular crime (that we know of), he went for the gold – war crimes.
Former guy seems to either be forgetting or is just ignorant of this fact: the reason he is getting this treatment (for the docs) is because of what a former president (Nixon) did. As usual he proves he’s a complete and utter dumb-ass.
Repugs have always tried to get even with Dems for Watergate, forgetting that they (or their Prez) was responsible for it in the first place. I think most of them would have been happy to gloss it all over and continue business as usual. Instead, because they had people who were actually honest (unlike today’s version of the GOP), the criminals were held to account. Except for Nixon. This always gets me. How come many of these criminals seem to be able to get away with things if they just resign. They still committed the crimes. They should be prosecuted. We’re seeing this with some of tRump’s hairbrained ‘lawyers’ who aren’t being prosecuted because they are ‘retiring’ from practice. They are criminals. Charge them and jail them!
Just a note: No “Read more” overlay at this time. (Two in a row)
I’ve been waiting for somebody to utter these simple truths. No former president has ever been treated like this before (at least to this degree) because no other president has tried to pull anything like the sh*t that Trump has. Yes, what you say about Nixon is true, and Reagan is largely true. But I take issue with what you say about Reagan.
“As for Bush 41 himself, he was never really part of Reagan’s team, a trusted insider. He likely knew nothing about all the goings on other than hints from people he knew from his own days in the intel community, and what he read/heard in the news.”
I think you’re putting the accent on the wrong sylLABle here. True, Bush 41 was never really part of Reagan’s team. But then you say “He likely knew nothing about all the goings on other than hints from people he knew from his own days in the intel community, and what he read/heard in the news.” Bush new EVERYTHING about all the goings on because “his days in the intel community.” as with many in the intel community, did not really come to an end. He knew everything about the goings on because he was a major player in them. It was Reagan — not the brightest bulb in the box in any case — who likely knew nothing of what was going on. Look at it like this, it was Reagan who was never really part of Bush’s team.
It is true that Reagan could have potentially gotten in trouble over Iran-Contra. But investigations by both Congress and the special Tower Commission failed to find evidence that Reagan knew much about these operations. Bush on the other hand was in cahoots with CIA chief William Casey and Donald Gregg, who managed Contra finances and operations. Unfortunately these guys were untouchable. Gregg was VP Bush’s national security advisor. Through him Bush had access to the whole Iran-Contra crew.
https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/profile-gregg.php
Your points about Reagan and Bush 41 are well-taken. I don’t fully agree but you caused me to shift my opinion at least partly. Bush was an outsider, just as LBJ was with JFK. And while after thinking about what you’ve said I think he knew more than I suggested this morning he still had only a partial picture – those guys you cite would have done what Reagan’s chief of staff and National Security advisor ordered and keep Bush as much out of the loop as possible for fear he’d get involved. He knew the system as you say, and knew DC in a way Reagan and some of those Reagan trusted most never did and saw how the whole thing could blow up – and cost him his own shot at the Oval Office. But, did a couple of the guys you noted keep Bush at least partially informed to hedge their bets? Not only plausible but likely. But what matters in the end is that even if Bush 41 knew all, he didn’t do jack about it. He just stood off to the side and worked on how to cover his own butt if/when it all blew up. So he was prepared when he became President to take steps to shut the whole thing down, and tapped Bilirubin Barr to “git er done.”
Thanks for getting into this and offering some good insights. That’s what I love to see here, and used to enjoy back when I was a lot more active on DK.
Thanks Denis. For my part I grant it’s quite possible Reagan knew more than the two investigations officially found. But I still think the evidence suggests “former” CIA man Bush was the one actually running things, even if he had no direct operational involvement.
In 1992, shortly before the end of his single term, Bush pardoned six men charged by independent prosecutor Lawrence Walsh after the seven-year Iran contra investigation: Caspar Weinberger, indicted on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, then awaiting trial; Robert McFarlane, convicted of withholding evidence but facing two years’ probation after a plea bargain; Elliot Abrams, convicted of withholding evidence; Duane Clarridge, former CIA official, indicted on seven counts of perjury and false statements; Clair George, chief of CIA covert operations, convicted on two charges of perjury and awaiting sentence; and Alan Fiers, chief of CIA’s Central American Task Force, convicted of withholding evidence and sentenced to one year’s probation.
“The Weinberger pardon marked the first time a President ever pardoned someone in whose trial he might have been called as a witness,” Walsh wrote in a scathing 1993 final report on his investigation, “because the President was knowledgeable of factual events underlying the case.”
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/06/674079779/george-h-w-bushs-mixed-legacy-in-a-reagan-era-scandal
It is also interesting that several major Iran-contra figures would hold important positions in the administration of Bush 43: the aforementioned Elliott Abrams, ; John D. Negroponte, who as Ambassador to Honduras, Nicaragua’s next-door neighbor, was point man for the Contras; John M. Poindexter, who as National Security Advisor was convicted of five counts of felony including making false statements to Congress. (convictions later overturned); and Otto J. Reich, who as Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy was described by journalist Ann Bardach as Iran-Contra’s “chief spinner,” promoting the Contras through what the Comptroller General in 1987 described as “prohibited, covert propaganda.” Though Reich was not prosecuted, the OPD was shut down in 1987 for its role in Iran-Contra.
There was a lot of highly sophisticated butt-covering in those days, but there are so many dots and they are so connectable.
how that deep state working out for ya trump?