(Don鈥檛) Lock Her Up!
It had been an instant crowd-pleaser during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The mere mention of Hillary Clinton’s name at a Donald Trump rally was sure to elicit chants of “lock her up!”
Trump’s claim that Clinton’s use of a personal email account, and a personal server, was the grounds for her being removed from society.
He’d even claimed that if he would be elected, he would have Clinton prosecuted – and jailed.
He was elected. He didn’t have Clinton jailed.
But it wasn’t for a lack of effort.
The New York Times reported last week that Trump wanted his White House legal counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, to request that the Justice Department consider investigating Clinton.
Fortunately, McGahn was smart enough to put that request on paper in the form of a memo.
He warned if Trump formally asked law enforcement investigate a political rival, that could be the possible grounds for impeachment.
Something, I suppose, that could indicate a garden variety case of abuse of power.
Not only that, Trump had made a similar request that would have led to the Justice Department investigating ex-F.B.I. director James B. Comey.
Not only would Comey be considered a political rival, but he’s also been a witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Can you say, “attempted obstruction of justice?”
I know I can.
If this was Russia or Saudi Arabia, I could understand a leader who would attempt to dole out punishment in order to solidify their power.
Donald Trump isn’t a tyrant. (Although he might like to be one)
Hillary Clinton and James Comey aren’t his subjects.
Trump likes to think that he can merely wave a wand, and his wishes will automatically be fulfilled.
That’s not true.
He banned a CNN reporter from the White House, and the courts reinstated him.
He tried to prevent migrants approaching the southern border from claiming asylum if they don’t use specified ports of entry – and a federal judge called a halt to that.
Trump’s response was that the judge making that ruling is an “Obama judge.”
In what can only be seen as a highly unusual move, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, issued a strong rebuke of Trump in a statement to the Associated Press.
According to Roberts, the United States doesn’t have, “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” And he added that an “independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
It must be perplexing to believe that the presidency is a toy that can be subjected to whims, only to discover that you only head one of the three co-equal branches of the American government.
Those other two branches have a way of keeping him in check.
While Mr. Trump may downplay the importance of the latest revelation that, like Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump used her own email address while working in the White House, there are folks (Republicans and Democrats) in Congress who’re willing to take that seriously.
Personally, I’m never going to go along with any chants of “lock her up” regarding Ivanka Trump.
But I do delight in watching Republicans dissemble Ivanka’s mistake while highlighting Hillary’s.
There’s a monumental chunk of hypocrisy taking place.
While there’s probably not going to be much of an “investigation” into Ivanka and Jared’s emails before the New Year, you can expect Democrats in the U.S. House to flex their newfound, post-midterm power.
While they’re at it, they might want to take a long look at the expensive price tag Americans are having to pay for sending those 5,900 active-duty members of the military to the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the Pentagon, that will amount to a cost of $72 million through December 15th.
It was also revealed that 2,800 of the 5,900 active-duty troops were sent to South Texas.
Yet, the main caravan is supposedly heading through Mexico and is expected to reach south of California – a long way from where those troops have been deployed.
Another charade.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner former reporter and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 20-year TV news veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.