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Former FBI Director James Comey is now the first among a slate of high-profile Trump critics to face criminal charges. Indictments against John Brennan and John Bolton may well be on the way.
Many observers, myself included [ [link removed] ], have already addressed the transparently political nature of this campaign of lawfare. We know that the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia previously failed to identify probable cause [ [link removed] ] for indicting Comey. We know the plight of the White House’s targets, and the chilling effect this government overreach could have on other would-be critics.
So today I’d like to look at the other side of things: from the perspective of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other senior Trump administration officials. In executing the president’s personal vendettas with no regard for their obligations as public servants, these individuals have reached the top of a tree they can’t climb down from.
In the mafia, there’s the idea of becoming a “made man,” when a low-level associate is fully inducted into the organization. One of the requirements to achieve this status is carrying out a contract killing.
The act serves two purposes: It demonstrates a person’s commitment and willingness to do any job. More importantly, it binds the initiate to the mob. You can never return to polite society. You are a murderer. The Mark of Cain is a smudge that can never be scrubbed off.
Bondi and Patel are now getting ready to become “made men” (or, in Bondi’s case, a made woman). For them, losing power will soon become riskier than continuing to bend the law to Trump’s demands. Surrendering their position will mean exposure to consequences.
Every bogus set of charges Bondi’s Justice Department draws up against political rivals could become the basis for a subpoena somewhere down the line. Each baseless raid Patel orders may be recorded in a future indictment for abuses of power. Unlike the shaky case (I’m being generous here) against Comey, these charges will have real merit because Trump’s “made men” have violated their constitutional oaths.
Now, we can begin to establish a motive for the administration to try to cling to power at any cost. Unlike Gavin Newsom [ [link removed] ], who suggested that there may not be elections at all in 2028, I believe that America will have elections for the foreseeable future. They will even be free (at first). But they are unlikely to be fair if we stay the present course. Remember, very few countries don’t have elections (Russia has “elections”!). But not all of those elections count.
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Remaining in office is the only thing separating Trump’s lieutenants from accountability before a future Democratic Congress or administration. So they will try to tip the scales. To manipulate the media environment. To intimidate. This is what Trump’s exhortation to Texas [ [link removed] ] and Missouri [ [link removed] ] to engage in aggressive gerrymandering is about. This is why National Guard deployments are being threatened against blue cities. We’ll see what next week’s hastily-organized meeting of the nation’s top military commanders [ [link removed] ] is about.
Elected officials who still believe in the rule of law need to pursue every legal avenue available to them to defend Comey and any of Trump’s other political targets. They need to explicitly promise that if the voters return responsible leaders to power, they will make Bondi and Patel’s fears of accountability a reality.
The Democrats do not even need to wait until the midterms. They should find allies wherever they can. Those Republicans who have not been fully initiated into the crime ring must be given an off ramp. Anyone whose worst offense was indifference or quiet acquiescence should still be welcome in the pro-freedom coalition because it will only take a few defectors to tip the balance in the House. That is especially true after this week’s special election in Arizona [ [link removed] ] and with growing dissension over the Epstein Files.
The administration and the Republican Party are not waiting for Democrats to act. So the opposition gains nothing of strategic value from preemptively compromising. Anything short of an all-in offensive is insufficient. The gang will trade democracy for immunity. If pro-democracy Americans do not match mafia politics with resolve, they will lose more than the next election.
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