I was starting to write about the historic bill addressing climate change and the Republicans, at the state level, doing whatever they can to deter action on our warming planet, when the F.B.I. showed up at Mar-a-Lago. And it wasn’t for some leisurely swimming in its luxurious pool!
And unlike your typical F.B.I. visit, where the G-men are donning their official government blue windbreakers and all work and no play, this bunch of Feds were more casual. Rumor has it that one of the agents had brought his bathing suit. He was hoping to usher in a new, kinder F.B.I. action called “Seize and a dip.”
The Don had already been subpoenaed for boxes of documents he unlawfully absconded with and, according to his lawyer, had returned them all. Well, I guess not all of them. Just so you know, that’s a crime!
For the justice department to take the drastic step of sending in the F.B.I. to The Don’s home (particularly given the politically volatile climate we live in), suggests that they knew for certain that there was some serious shit still in his possession. There is no way, knowing how his followers and the Grand Offal Party would respond, that they would take that chance and come up empty.
The Republicans clamored for the warrant to be released and Attorney General Garland called their bluff; he announced he would release the warrant by 3:00 this past Friday unless The Don appealed it. The Don was trapped like a rat and had no choice to allow it to be public. To say there were concerning materials that The Don had in his possession is an understatement.
The Don now has the grand distinction of being the only president investigated for colluding with a foreign government to impact an election, being impeached twice, denying the results an election, spreading lies that it was stolen, fomenting and orchestrating an insurrection, thinking it wasn’t a bad idea for his vice president to be hung and have his residence invaded by the F.B.I for withholding documents that could impact our national security. Perhaps we should change his title from Mr. President to Mr. Precedent?
And yet, with all the above, he still remains the most powerful person in the Republican party, as evidenced by a string of recent primary wins by candidates he backed who support the “Big Lie.”
On cue, Republicans went ballistic. Kevin McCarthy had this to say:
“The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization. When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned.”
In a moment of total irony Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who went ballistic when calls to defund the police occurred after the murder of George Floyd took it a step and tweeted: “DEFUND THE FBI!” Now the F.B.I was the enemy.
Not surprisingly, F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland have experienced a surge of death threats. Threats on the F.B.I are mounting and have already resulted in one incident in Ohio where a die-hard supporter of The Don was shot and killed while attempting to break into an F.B.I. facility. The victim just happened to be a frequent visitor to The Don’s social media platform “Truth Social.” Notice how The Don spoke out about the violence. Ask Mike Pence, he can relate!
The Don’s supporters champed at the bit about “civil war.”
“All it takes is one call. And millions will arm up and take back this country. It will be over in less than 2 weeks.”
Another said, “Lets get this started! This unelected, illegitimate regime crossed the line with their GESTAPO raid! It is long past time the lib socialist filth were cleansed from American society!”
Just as he was mesmerized by the violence of January 6th and did nothing about for 187 minutes, the idea that his people would start a civil war for him and go after the F.B.I., pumps him up and emboldens him.
Before the warrant was released The Don used the old “they planted it on me” defense. Yep, the F.B.I. brought in secret documents that they had no access to and framed him. When that ridiculous ploy fell flat, he decided to say that he had in essence waved a magic wand and poof, everything he took was automatically declassified because, if he says it is so, it must be so. Umm, not really Don; then he went back to an oldie but goodie: “President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!” Turns out that what there is a lot of is bullshit, as Obama did no such thing. Just the fact that he claimed it was 33 million documents alone shows how absurd that statement is. Maybe that number is how many more people he thinks voted for him than Obama?
What’s so scary, yet sadly predictable at this frightening time in America, is that Republican politicians know that something really is rotten in Mar-a-Lago. The Don likely had top secret documents that compromised U.S.national security, but because of their fear of him, chose to support the egregious narrative that it is our own law enforcement that threatens our national security.
So why did The Don keep these documents, even after they were subpoenaed? His narcissism allows him to believe that everything is an extension of himself and the documents are no exception. The fact that there are strict rules against this doesn’t faze him because he plays by his own rules.
So what did he do or plan to do with them?
Maybe, rather than having “documentary movie night” at Mar-a-Lago, he instituted “document” night. On these special occasions the very wealthy could pay millions of dollars to see top secret information. And at the end of the evening, the individual who put in the most extra money (secret ballot), got to take home a framed copy. Can you imagine what that would fetch at Sotheby’s one day?
He also could be negotiating with adversaries and allies for large sums of money. Back channel communications with Russia, anybody? Are he and his love buddy Kim Jung-un in contact? President Xi? The name of that show is “If the Price is Right!
The Grand Offal Party 