It’s Not about Comey, Letitia James, or Soros. It’s about You.
Political prosecutions silence dissent and enable corruption
Whatever you think about former FBI Director James Comey—I’ve certainly raised concerns about the FBI under his leadership before—his indictment yesterday under presidential pressure should alarm everyone.
The independence of law enforcement is essential to ensure fairness and the rule of law. When prosecutors take actions based on the whims of political leaders, criminal law becomes a tool of intimidation and corruption, not accountability.
Politicized Prosecutions Are a Way to Keep You Quiet
Threatening criminal prosecution is a highly effective way to silence dissent. That’s why corrupt, autocratic leaders, from Erdogan in Turkey to Maduro in Venezuela, so often take over law enforcement and deploy it against their critics.
The Comey indictment looks like an example of exactly that. A prosecutor, Erik Siebert, resigned a week ago, reportedly because he was refusing to file politically-motivated charges against Comey and NY Attorney General Letitia James. US Attorney General Pam Bondi then installed one of Trump’s personal lawyers, Lindsey Halligan, in his place, and Halligan swiftly filed the Comey indictment.
The main message we see the administration sending, over and over, is the same: if you stand up to it, you will be punished. We saw that in Brendan Carr’s statements about Jimmy Kimmel, the pressure on law firms and universities, the over-the-top lawsuits against media companies, the executive order targeting Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs, and now the indictment of Comey and reported investigation of Open Society Foundations.
The predictable outcome is that people will become too afraid to express criticism, much less take action.
And that’s the point. This is not just about getting back at Comey. It’s about silencing all of us.
Destroying the Rule of Law Enables Corruption
What happened with Siebert mirrors the resignation of Danielle Sassoon, a conservative federal prosecutor in NY who earlier this year resigned rather than drop a corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams under pressure from the administration.
The thing is, when you replace the rule of law with the rule of the powerful, those in charge don’t just go after the people they dislike—they also protect their cronies.
As I’ve said before, this is “cartel politics”—the tactics of organized crime, but applied at the helm of the world’s most powerful government.
Just in the last few days, the Justice Department closed a bribery investigation into “border czar” Tom Homan, for allegedly accepting $50,000 in an undercover FBI operation. We don’t know the details of the case, but it sure looks like if you’re with the administration, charges get dropped; if you criticize it, you get targeted.
What Can We Do?
There are still ways to push back. The fact that a prosecutor resigned rather than file the Comey charges under pressure shows that not everyone is going to go along with this.
The lower federal courts have shown a great deal of independence, despite facing death threats--though an eventual win in court doesn’t save targets from having to deal with the cost and hassle (and potential deprivation of liberty) involved in an investigation or prosecution.
A key place to focus our attention is Congress, which has the authority and duty to exert oversight. When a prosecutor resigns under pressure to file politicized charges, and another is installed to carry out the president’s will, that’s a clear assault on the independence of the justice system. The Judiciary Committees (not just the minority) of the House and Senate should be demanding information and investigating.
The rule of law is not, and should not be, a partisan issue. Standing up to this kind of abuse requires courage and commitment, but it is also crucial if we are to live in a fair and free country.