(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . They're Telling Us What They'll Do. Is Anybody Listening? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-08 Convicted felon/four-time indicted/twice impeached/sexual assaulter/tax fraudster/former president Donald Trump is talking about weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his enemies if he’s elected. According to the Washington Post, Trump, who claims the multiple criminal cases he’s facing are a politically driven vendetta against him, told Newsmax, “… it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, and it’s very possible that it’s going to have to happen to them.” “It’s a terrible precedent for our country,” he added. “Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question.” If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a very clear threat to people he sees as his enemy. Is this even registering with voters? Are they just brushing this off as more Trump babbling? If they do, they’re idiots. That’s because not only is Trump talking about the end of the rule of law that will come out of his actions, his allies are assembling ideas to allow him to do this, according to a story on the Reuters website. Think about it – there are people out there figuring out ways to destroy the independence and integrity of the Justice Department and reduce it to nothing more than maybe the most powerful tool in Trump’s promised retribution tour. A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to an adult-film actress before the 2016 election. Before, during, and after his trial and verdict Trump and his GOP sycophants have attacked the justice system as being rigged and corrupt. The motive behind this firestorm of Republican lies? It’s an attempt to discredit the legal system that has convicted him once with three cases pending and to justify his corrupt plans for it if he’s elected. Trump – who has told his followers that “I am your retribution” – has said he wants the Justice Department to investigate specific former aides and allies who are now critical of him, and he’s promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate President Joe Biden and his family, the Post reported. A spokesman for Biden’s reelection campaign accurately said Trump’s comments were proof that he will “seek revenge on anyone who opposes him.” You can bet on that. You can read the Post’s story here. *** Now, you may just ignore this and consider it just more Trump bullshit. If that’s the case you ought to know that his allies have been putting together a plan to put this into action Reuters said they’re assembling proposals to end the Justice Department’s independence and turn it into “an attack dog for conservative causes,” sources said. The plan is twofold. First, they’ll fill the DOJ with conservatives who are willing to carry out any order Trump gives them. They could do this by using a potential executive order known as “Schedule F,” which would give him the power to replace thousands of civil servants with conservative allies. They also plan to restructure the department so key decisions are concentrated in the hands of administration loyalists instead of career bureaucrats. This would set Trump up to have his enemies arrested on trumped up (no pun intended) criminal charges. But there’s more. It would allow the DOJ to pursue conservative policies, such as dismantling hiring programs meant to boost diversity in the workplace and ending federal oversight of police departments accused of racist practices, the Reuters story said. This could also lead to eliminating the FBI’s general counsel, which provides legal advice to the bureau regarding ongoing probes and other matters. Closing it would force the bureau to receive legal guidance from people closer to Trump and limit the FBI’s ability to conduct investigations without close pollical oversight. Not surprisingly, some of these Trump allies are affiliated with Project 2025, a consortium of conservative think tanks that’s been making detailed plans for a second Trump term. The argument from the Trump side is that the president should have broad powers to command and oversee the Justice Department as he sees fit. Of course, this means the most corrupt president in history decides which policies to get rid of and which stay in place, who gets investigated and who doesn’t, who gets charged and who doesn’t. Does that sound like a good idea to you? Kristy Parker, a former federal prosecutor who’s now at Protect Democracy, a non-profit legal advocacy organization, nailed it when she described this effort as “basically coming in and saying we are going to jettison the idea that the Department of Justice should have a wall of separation between it and the personal political agenda of the president.” You can read the Reuters story here. For good measure, a column by Ruth Marcus in the New York Times provided some terrifying quotes from some Trump henchmen calling for “eye-for-an-eye justice.” You can read Marcus’s column here. *** I don’t know how clearer the danger can be. They’re telling us what they’re going to do. I don’t know how anyone paying attention to this and other Trump ramblings wouldn’t be scared to death at the thought of him getting elected. But they’re out there – a lot of them. They range from the rich who want to protect their personal and corporate tax cuts, to business pushing for deregulations, to the poor and middle-class who have embraced Trump for whatever reason – the hate, the racism, the fear, their unhappiness with their station in life. We’ve been given a preview of the end of our democracy. The end of the rule of law. The beginning of a corrupt authoritarian dictatorship dedicated to the best interests of Trump and his buddies and against the best interests and greater good of the rest of the country. The radical Right in all its glory. This is not a drill. The choice is yours. Choose wisely, because if you don’t, you’ll see hell come to our country, and the efforts of the men and women over the decades who’ve built it, nurtured it, and defended it will be all for nothing. Is that what we want? Some do. Hopefully most won’t. *** Thank you for reading my post. You can see my other writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Please share and subscribe for free via email on its home page. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/8/2245353/-They-re-Telling-Us-What-They-ll-Do-Is-Anybody-Listening?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/