The raid on Trump's lawyer: The pretext

Thomas Lifson

This is starting to smell of a fishing expedition, and maybe a set-up, reminiscent of the famous dictum of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's head of the secret police: "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."  

Lavrentiy Beria.

"John Hinderaker of Powerline explains why this is a Deep State operation in its face:

It is blindingly obvious that this whole story, and the leak thereof, is a political attack on President Trump by the Democratic Party.  There is only one serious question: Didn't President Trump appoint the current Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray?  And the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions?  Yes, he did.  So why is DOJ making war on the president?

The answer is that Trump and his appointees do not control the departments they ostensibly run.  Liberals tell us that at DOJ, it is critically important that political appointees not interfere with the "career professionals" who do all the work.  I say, [b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑].  The "career professionals" are just Democratic Party lifers who have risen to the top of the bureaucracy, often by avoiding any actual, risky work.  I'm not talking about FBI agents on the street, or the majority of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.  (U.S. Attorneys, of course, are political appointees.)  I'm talking about career bureaucrats like James Comey, Bob Mueller, Andy McCabe, and so on.

President Trump's appointees absolutely should "interfere" with these Democratic Party operatives.  They should order them to direct their efforts toward legitimate law enforcement ends, not toward Democratic Party activism.  Those who refuse should be fired.

We are witnessing, as Scott says, "a political death struggle with the authorities operating under [President Trump's] nominal control."  President Trump and his loyal appointees need to assert the powers that the voters have given them. . .

Also by Mr. Lifson: POTUS's quick response to news of raid on his lawyer shows self-control  . . . "You can judge for yourself by watching the two-and-a-half-minute video below of President Trump responding to the news of the raid on his lawyer, Michael Cohen, but I saw a man deeply angered but fully in control of himself.  Given his tendency to shoot from the hip and employ colorful language, many people have worried about the wisdom of his speaking with Special Counsel Mueller.  Those concerns probably now can be set aside, as the likelihood of cooperation is gone down to near zero.  Attorney Cohen cooperated fully with the special counsel inquiry, and it got him a no-knock raid on his office, his home, and the hotel room where he was staying with his family while the apartment was being renovated." . . .