Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
The five criminal and civil prosecutions of Donald Trump all prompt heated denials from Democrats that President Biden and Democrat operatives had a role in any of them.
But Joe Biden has long let it be known that he was frustrated with his own Department of Justice’s federal prosecutors for their tardiness in indicting Donald Trump.
Biden was upset because any delay might mean that his rival Trump would not be in federal court during the 2024 election cycle. And that would mean he could not be tagged as a “convicted felon” by the November election while being kept off the campaign trail.
Politico has long prided itself on its supposed insider knowledge of the workings of the Biden administration. Note that it was reported earlier this February that a frustrated Joe Biden “has grumbled to aides and advisers that had Garland moved sooner in his investigation into former President Donald Trump’s election interference, a trial may already be underway or even have concluded…”
If there was any doubt about the Biden administration’s effort to force Trump into court before November, Politico further dispelled it—even as it blamed Trump for Biden’s anger at Garland: “That trial still could take place before the election and much of the delay is owed not to Garland but to deliberate resistance put up by the former president and his team.”
Note in passing how a presidential candidate’s legal right to oppose a politicized indictment months before an election by his opponent’s federal attorneys is smeared by Politico as “deliberate resistance.”
Given Politico was publicly reporting six months ago about Biden’s anger at the pace of his DOJ’s prosecution of Trump, does anyone believe his special counsel, Jack Smith, was not aware of such presidential displeasure and pressure?
Note Smith had petitioned and was denied an unusual request to the court to speed up the course of his Trump indictment.
And why would Biden’s own Attorney General, Merrick Garland, select such an obvious partisan as Smith? Remember, in his last tenure as special counsel, Smith had previously gone after popular Republican and conservative Virginia governor Bob McDonnell.
Yet Smith’s politicized persecution of the innocent McDonnell was reversed by a unanimous verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court. That rare court unanimity normally should have raised a red flag to the Biden DOJ about both Smith’s partiality and his incompetence.
But then again, Smith’s wife had donated to the 2020 Biden campaign fund. And she was previously known for producing a hagiographic 2020 documentary (“Becoming”) about Michelle Obama.
Selecting a special counsel with a successful record of prior nonpartisan convictions was clearly not why the DOJ appointed Smith.
The White House’s involvement is not limited to the Smith federal indictments.
Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis’s paramour and erstwhile lead prosecutor in her indictment of Trump, Nathan Wade, met twice with the White House counsel’s office. On one occasion, Wade met inside the Biden White House.
Subpoenaed records reveal that the brazen Wade actually billed the federal government for his time spent with the White House counsel’s staff—although so far no one has disclosed under oath the nature of such meetings.
Of the tens of thousands of local prosecutions each year, in how many instances does a county prosecutor consult with the White House counsel’s office—and then bill it for his knowledge?
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s just-completed felony convictions of Donald Trump were spearheaded by former prominent federal prosecutor Matthew Colangelo. He is not just a well-known Democratic partisan who served as a political consultant to the Democratic National Committee.
Colangelo had also just left his prior position in the Biden Justice Department—reputedly as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s third-ranking prosecutor—to join the local Bragg team.
Again, among all the multitudes of annual municipal indictments nationwide, how many local prosecutors manage to enlist one of the nation’s three top federal attorneys to head their case?
So, apparently, it was not enough for the shameless Bragg to campaign flagrantly on promises to go after Trump. In addition, Bragg brashly drafted a top Democratic operative and political appointee from inside Joe Biden’s DOJ to head his prosecution.
Not surprisingly, it took only a few hours after the Colangelo-Bragg conviction of Trump for Biden on spec to start blasting his rival Donald Trump as a “convicted felon.” Biden is delighted that his own former prosecutor, a left-wing judge, and a Manhattan jury may well keep Trump off the campaign trail.
So, it is past time for the media and Democrats to drop this ridiculous ruse of Biden’s White House “neutrality.” Instead, they should admit that they are terrified of the will of the people in November and so are conniving to silence them.
Excellent as always. Why must VDH step into the media’s shoes? One may well ask where are our “faithful watchdogs”? Apparently the task has fallen to Dr. Hanson and his Queenslands.
Our media is truly the enemy of the people. Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves, as they knew a fair and honest-or at least even- press was necessary for our republic’s survival.
Apparently, the reprobates on the left think that we are as stupid as they are.
Perhaps he, like millions of us, are sick and tired of Northern Democrats acting like they are above the law rather than at least admitting they are trash.
Watchdogs?……….lickspittle lapdogs
Great comment-my take is that the “Faithful Watchdogs” were completely inbred with “Partisan American Bully Pit bulls”
Great article! We have entered a very dangerous period in America. Anything could happen between now and January 2025. Folks, we must admit something too. There is nothing these people won’t do!
“A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial; that is, when its ruling class has lost its function, but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud.”
– George Orwell
We must also not forget that Barack Obama rose to his claim to fame by stealthily using politized persecution in the form of going after his opponents in the courts as well as the court of public opinion. The DNC Propaganda Machine surely has a database of “useful negative” information on every political opponent and critic in the country. Maxine Watters revealed this years ago referencing Barack Obama’s massive information files of information on people. And I daresay VDH may be on this database, as am I.
We must also not forget that Barack Obama rose to his claim to fame by stealthily using politized persecution in the form of going after his opponents in the courts as well as the court of public opinion. The DNC Propaganda Machine surely has a database of “useful negative” information on every political opponent and critic in the country. Maxine Watters revealed this years ago referencing Barack Obama’s massive information files of information on people. And I daresay VDH may be on this database, as might I.
“they should admit that they are terrified of the will of the people in November and so are conniving to silence them.”
Yep, and the will of WE THE PEOPLE should crush these vermin and scatter them across the wastelands.
Corporate media continues in its conspiracy with the Bidens. Thank God for VDH and the few honest politicians in Washington willing to pursue the truth.
I just wish a media outlet would dredge up Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein and have them recite what they said repeatedly from 2016-2020: “This is worse than Watergate!”
Where are you Carl? How about another book Bob? Partisan hacks!!
VDH does the work of the Fourth Estate while they look away.
Add to that the Hunter Biden laptop proven to be true. How about election interference charges for all of the partisan intelligence people and media who shouted it down before the 2020 election?
What a bunch of liars!!
I’d be embarrassed if I was Woodward or Bernstein, especially Bernstein who has beclowned himself with his phony Trump attacks from 2016-2020.
In order for them to be embarrassed they would have to have an ethical standard.
Spot on as usual VH. democrats have no shame nor honor, so these findings will not be a negative with them. But it is important information that the American people need to hear, understand, and repeat often.
Once again, VDH serves up a heapin’ helpin’ of Captain Obvious, to which 70%+ of the Federal government Uniparty and their legal minions, complicit in their hatred of Trump, responds: “Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it?”
Anyone else notice Biden looks just like the Banjo playing backwoods boy from Deliverance? (movie Burt Reynolds) Hell, I better be quiet, if Biden hears about this by next week he will be talking about how he was once one of the greatest ever banjo players in the early 70s. LOL
There is a similarity.
Hopefully the entire corrupt “Joe Biden” kingdom will soon be under water.
What is obvious is that the kangaroo conviction in New York isn’t worth the NY Times bird cage liner it’s written on. Moreover, if a reasonably possible scenario were to proceed: the imprisonment of Trump and then a miracle re-election of Biden, followed by the inevitable reversal of the Trump conviction, America will then be in the midst of a massive crisis. We will have a President elected by massive voter fraud. In fact, a President elected by a conspiracy within the judicial and law enforcement agencies, a conspiracy as morally unethical as it is disgustingly illegal. The concept of an honest election would forever be clouded, a massive assault on a free country’s process to insure that the nation’s people freely pick their best leaders, not just for this nation, but as a nation guiding the Free World. This is the plan and the hopes and aspirations of the Democrat strategy makers! This is the zenith of their morality. How could such a plan have been adopted? Only if the massively corrupt Democrat strategists believed the American media would fully support and attempt to conceal such an outrageous, unethical, desperate, and morally bankrupt process, all to retain far left control of the government. This is now the United States. This is where we have been headed for decades. This isn’t fiction. This may well be tomorrow’s crisis. It is almost impossible to believe this country, the Democratic Party, and the national media have willingly stooped so low. Incredibly stupid.
As Harry Reid said, “It worked, didn’t it?”
Context: Harry Reid’s quote “It worked, didn’t it?” was in reference to his false claim during the 2012 presidential election that Mitt Romney had not paid taxes for ten years. This remark was intended to damage Romney’s campaign, and Reid defended it by pointing to Romney’s subsequent loss in the election. The quote reflects Reid’s view that the tactic, though controversial, achieved its intended political effect.
The New York Governor can reverse the Bananna Republic stain on her state by stating that New York will investigate the possobility of outside influence in New York Courts. 4 AM raid on all suspected of recieving foreign money to turn New York Courts into clown shows? Automatic audits of feds who operate in NY?
I would rate the odds of this happening somewhere between “fat chance” and “no chance”, heavily leaning towards the latter.
Biden did not have anything to do with it, but his handlers did. I like to keep that distinction clear. Biden is a senile puppet run by the Biden Administration.
Please forward this to Shannon Bream, Fox News.
The day that the media and the democrats come clean about their machinations, hell will have frozen solid. Let’s hope that in November comes a day of reckoning.
These are constitutional republic ending tactics demanded by a hateful, incompetent , corrupt and plagiarist Joe. The dems poorly deny the truth about self admitted plagiarist Joe and Jill continues with wild fabrications that Joe possesses honor and vigor. The dems and Jill are truly disgusting frauds and liars just like plagiarist joe.
Victor,
As usual you have provided clear and precise comment on the Leftist conditions that poison our DC RICO GOV.
Thanks for the meat and potatoes I call truth.
VDH always has a clear and concise way to his essays that always make me sit back and think hmmmmm.
Regarding the hoax about Trump’s organization communicating with Alfa Bank:
Anybody with even a basic understanding of Internet protocols knows this charge was complete garbage. Trump’s communications were the kind of transmission that gets randomly bounced all over the Internet (DNS lookup w/ UDP packet).
So for example, if you look up Chase Bank, the request could randomly go through Singapore and Russia. Next time, through S. Africa and Sri Lanka. It happens all the time. This is Internet 101. There are even free online tools where you can see this
https://traceroute-online.com/
Just enter a website (e.g. wsj.com or oracle.com) and you can see how it bounces all over the place.
How do I know this? Before I started writing history books, I helped create the first Internet phone.
— Jens Heycke
Anyone can see the Party of treason’s fingerprints ALL over these Stalinesque show trials. Bragg den examined the allegations against Trump beforehand and ruled them to be minor misdemeanors so to magically produce felony charges, you know they manipulated the SH*T out of the system. This is not the same America that selflessly laid American lives on the line at Normandy. The government had a little more honor back then. They started downhill after they killed JFK and found they could sell a bill of goods to the gullible
American electorate.
If you profess knowledge of the Biden lawfare and you don’t know VDH, then you really don’t know . Could be said about much of our current situation 🤔
The 9+ million deaths due to the bio weapon funded for over 20 years (many illegally) by Demunist, co-developed in secret with their CCP allies, and absent any proof it was actually an “accident” almost a mathematical certainty to have been released intentionally – all this ought to enable anyone to understand there is NOTHING Demunists won’t do for power.
As a resident of Fulton county and a political minority, I thought Fulton County and not the Federal government paid for Wade’s time at the White House.
Hopeless corruption. Can it be stopped? Maybe but I recall a different madman who persecuted his opposition – Josef Stalin, had a quote “…let the people have their vote, it only matters who counts the votes…”. A vote for Trump will need to be overwhelming to overcome the new counting process. Can it be stopped? Unclear at this point.
to go from #3 fed prosecutor under garland to a state prosecutor under bragg? he was told to go and prosecute trump and then get some special spot in the next election cycle legal regime… maybe ag, maybe bigger…. but nobody would take that kind of downgrade for nothing.
Just a few moments of VDH’s presentations brings much appreciated sunlight to our government ‘s floundering buffoonery! MSM deserves to be embarrassed by his effectiveness!
Thanks for the excellent expose. I suspect they are also terrified of what could be exposed in the course of an upcoming evening (Thursday, June 27).
From CA (Shaver Lake) to NC
I was born and raised in Sanger, 10 miles from Dr Hansen’s farm. I had the opportunity to hike in the high Sierras with Dr Hansen several years ago. Because of the high taxes, high insurance rates and political climate we moved to NC 5 years ago and have never regretted it.
I so enjoy his pod cast while taking my daily walk and I always learn something. Continue to educate us in only the way you can Dr Hansen.
Larry Dixon.
The current administration surely has an open purchase order for Bleachbit and hammers at the ready. We are coming to the polling stations with all our might.
It stinks of desperation…….
Professor you are incorrect on your take on the appeal courts in the State of New York. The first appellite court yes dominated by Democrats and politically motivated. However the second tier of apellite court in New York State actually has some Republilcan judges. They are the ones who threw out the conviction of Weinstein. He has a much better chance with the second level of apellite courts than the first
I am not a Biden fan and definitely not a Trump one. I found the article very unconvincing.
The relationship between Trump and “my Attorney General” Bill Barr was well documented. BIden has stayed clear of personal meetings (or any other?) with Garlands.
Garland is prosecuting cases against Hunter Biden, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, – he has avoided prosecuting Republican members of Congress who refused to testify Astra the J6 committee and declined to pursue cases of child trafficking against Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The cases against Trump – especially the very serious documents case in Florida- have been delayed time after time by defense delaying tactics. They clearly hope for a November win and the case dropped.
I believe the public have a right to know if a candidate is for for purpose which is determined by a jury of peers – not Biden.
The evidence cited in the article is hearty and rumor. I expect scholarship from the Institute
“The very serious document case in Florida”? Please opine on the very serious document case in Biden’s garage. Tit-for-tat.
The case against Hunter will be nullified by the jury. There were many Hunter transgressions uncovered by the House investigators and yet the your esteemed DOJ selected a simple paper screw up. Hunter will not serve time. They purposefully let the statute of limitations run out on his egregious tax crimes, involving millions of $. Your claim that the government is seriously going after Hunter is blatantly bogus. You have been fooled.
Menendez is so out of control and crooked that they had no choice but to stage a meaningless trial. Gold bars?
Cuellar has pissed off the democratic machine, so he must be punished. Henry Cuellar has made several statements and taken positions that conflict with the broader Democratic establishment. Notably, Cuellar is the last anti-abortion Democrat in Congress, which has put him at odds with the party’s pro-choice stance, especially during high-profile legislative battles like the Women’s Health Protection Act vote. His conservative stances extend to other areas such as gun rights, union opposition, and immigration policy, where he supported maintaining Title 42, a Trump-era border policy.
The “very serious documents case” you mention is a complete setup. You are either trolling or you are badly misinformed.
Nice try. Don’t take it personally. Just my opinion.
“There are two ways of clarifying liquids—ebullition and precipitation; one forces the impurities to the surface as scum, the other sends them to the bottom as dregs. The former is the more offensive, and that seems to be our way; but neither is useful if the impurities are merely separated but not removed. We are told with tiresome iteration that our social and political systems are clarifying; but when is the skimmer to appear? If the purpose of free institutions is good government where is the good government?—when may it be expected to begin?—how is it to come about? Systems of government have no sanctity; they are practical means to a simple end—the public welfare; worthy of no respect if they fail of its accomplishment. The tree is known by its fruit. Ours is bearing crab-apples. If the body politic is constitutionally diseased, as I verily believe; if the disorder inheres in the system; there is no remedy. The fever must burn itself out, and then Nature will do the rest. One does not prescribe what time alone can administer. We have put our criminals and dunces into power; do we suppose they will efface themselves? Will they restore to us the power of governing them? They must have their way and go their length. The natural and immemorial sequence is: tyranny, insurrection, combat. In combat everything that wears a sword has a chance—even the right. History does not forbid us to hope. But it forbids us to rely upon numbers; they will be against us. If history teaches a
“There are two ways of clarifying liquids—ebullition and precipitation; one forces the impurities to the surface as scum, the other sends them to the bottom as dregs. The former is the more offensive, and that seems to be our way; but neither is useful if the impurities are merely separated but not removed. We are told with tiresome iteration that our social and political systems are clarifying; but when is the skimmer to appear? If the purpose of free institutions is good government where is the good government?—when may it be expected to begin?—how is it to come about? Systems of government have no sanctity; they are practical means to a simple end—the public welfare; worthy of no respect if they fail of its accomplishment. The tree is known by its fruit. Ours is bearing crab-apples. If the body politic is constitutionally diseased, as I verily believe; if the disorder inheres in the system; there is no remedy. The fever must burn itself out, and then Nature will do the rest. One does not prescribe what time alone can administer. We have put our criminals and dunces into power; do we suppose they will efface themselves? Will they restore to us the power of governing them? They must have their way and go their length. The natural and immemorial sequence is: tyranny, insurrection, combat. In combat everything that wears a sword has a chance—even the right. History does not forbid us to hope. But it forbids us to rely upon numbers; they will be against us. If history teaches a
If history teaches anything worth learning it teaches that the majority of mankind is neither good nor wise. When government is founded upon the public conscience and the public intelligence the stability of states is a dream. In that moment of time that is covered by historical records we have abundant evidence that each generation has believed itself wiser and better than any of its predecessors; that each people has believed itself to have the secret of national perpetuity. In support of this universal delusion there is nothing to be said; the desolate places of the earth cry out against it. Vestiges of obliterated civilizations cover the earth; no savage but has camped upon the sites of proud and populous cities; no desert but has heard the statesman’s boast of national stability. Our nation, our laws, our history—all shall go down to everlasting oblivion with the others, and by the same road. But I submit that we are traveling it with needless haste…. Go get ye to your scoundrel lockouts, your villain strikes, your blacklisting, your boycotting, your speeching, marching and maundering; but if ye do not to others as ye would that they do to you it shall occur, and that right soon, that ye be drowned in your own blood and your pick-pocket civilization quenched as a star that falls into the sea.”—Ambrose Bierce, Little Blue Book No. 1099, Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius, A Cynic Looks at Life by Ambrose Bierce, Haldeman-Julius Company,Girard, Kansas, 1912