"The damage done to rule of law by replacing career prosecutors with Trump defense attorneys for the sole purpose of charging a political target is enormous. No doubt about it. But charging former FBI Director Jim Comey on flimsy false statements charges crosses a rubicon in a different way, one that may be just as disastrous for American democracy. Charging made it easy to charge top law enforcement officials - any former law enforcement officers - whom Trump ousted for political reasons."
"Kash released after action reports from January 6 to HJC which in turn shared them, complete with warnings that the documents were not for external dissemination, with John Solomon, who turned complaints including a heavy handed focus from the US Attorney's office on misdemeanors into a story about "274 agents deployed to the Capitol in plainclothes and with guns after the violence started but with no clear safety gear,""
Pam Bondi and Kash Patel pursued charges against Jim Comey, a move that exposed them to potential legal and political vulnerability. Replacing career prosecutors with Trump defense attorneys to pursue a political target erodes institutional norms and damages the rule of law. Charging Comey on weak false-statements counts establishes a precedent that could be used to prosecute other former law enforcement officials ousted for political reasons. Kash Patel then circulated January 6 after-action reports to congressional staff and a partisan journalist, spawning a narrative about plainclothes agents and fueling conspiracy theories amplified by political allies. Attempts to downplay those theories still included misleading claims about FBI conduct and rules.
Read at emptywheel
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