However, while impeaching President Joe Biden over years of corruption is necessary, it is not sufficient. More urgent still is the necessity to break through the normal media defense perimeter and hold the weaponized Justice Department accountable directly to the American people.
There are two difficult but critical steps, both within Republican hands, that can potentially block former President Donald Trump’s legal jeopardy, while just as importantly, forcing the issues right into Americans’ living rooms. Both will take cojones, but the hour is late and we have little to lose. The law enforcement arm of the federal government is targeting any opposition, including not just the former president, but traditional Catholics, concerned parents at School Board meetings, and anyone else it deems a threat.
This fight is upon us. There is no avoiding it by playing by the old rules. As Aragorn told King Theoden in Lord of the Rings, “Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not."
In other words, we’re in a political street fight, unencumbered by the chains of politeness and Washington norms, both of which the Left has ignored for decades. The time has come to do more than hold hearings where everyone gets their Twitter/TikTok click quote and a report is issued that will be ignored. Those hearings are important, but they are not sufficient. We will not defeat the overreach that threatens the American way of life with yet one more instance of Ben Shapiro “destroying” a hapless leftist dweeb, or of Sen. John Kennedy delivering another “savage” takedown. Absent calls to action, these digital bread and circuses only enervate our base.
So what should be done? Two big things. First, Congress has one enormous tool in the fight against an out-of-control DOJ: Purse strings. This is perhaps the most basic function and power of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress has the power to cut or completely stop payments for Justice. It may come under the Executive Branch, but it is funded by Congress. And right now it is an overt threat to every American, most powerful to least.
This could result in a shutdown of the federal government. So be it. That would simply add to the opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate to the American people that the Department of Justice, FBI and other intelligence services are operating outside the law and American norms, targeting political opponents from the most powerful to the least.
Shockingly, the American people are overwhelmingly with Republicans on this. Overwhelmingly. A May 2023 Harvard-Harris Poll found 70 percent of Americans are concerned about FBI and security agencies' interference in future elections. When do 70 percent of Americans agree on anything? And further, 71 percent say wide-ranging reforms are required to avoid it, including this astonishing party breakdown: GOP: 76 percent; Democrat: 65 percent; and independents/others: 72 percent. If there was ever a truly obvious mandate, it is right here.
But of course, talking about this in theory is one thing. Getting the votes for it is another, assuming Speaker Kevin McCarthy has the fortitude to try. Too many Republicans are asleep at the switch and disconnected from their constituency, such as Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, who said last month that he will not support defunding or cutting Justice. Buck represents a red R+13 district and wins by 25-35 points every year. What is he doing appeasing our persecutors by continuing to fund attacks on Republicans and non-leftist Americans against the overwhelming will of the voters? I don’t know. But if I had to guess, I’d assume Buck and those like him fear the media. Which, yes, would respond brutally, but when your district is safe and the American people support you, who’s to say that would matter? Defend Americans against tyranny or get out of Congress.
If McCarthy could make this happen, it would immediately stop the federal prosecutions in their steps. Maybe more importantly, it would be the biggest first step to cleaning up the nest of legal vipers, allowing Catholics to not fear FBI plants at Mass (it’s hard to believe that sentence can be written in America), and moms and dads to voice their opinions about their children’s schools without being targeted.
So that’s step one. Step two is lesser, but still vital, because it deals with the two state prosecutions in Georgia and New York, which are not under federal power and, particularly in the subversive Georgia RICO charges, cannot be pardoned by the President.
However, we have one ace up our sleeve, which is that President Trump is a Florida resident. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called the indictment of Trump in the sham New York case “un-American,” recognized this, which is why he said Florida “will not assist in an extradition request.” But this courageous gesture became moot, as Trump voluntarily turned himself in the next day.
There is a serious legal and constitutional question about whether a Governor can unilaterally block extradition, which is likely why DeSantis used the phrase “will not assist.” It’s important that conservatives understand this limitation. That is based on a 1987 ruling in Puerto Rico v. Branstad, which overruled an earlier court ruling, and stated that the governor of the asylum state, in this case Florida, does not have the discretion to block extradition. There are at least four exceptions, none of which appear to apply here. And it was a unanimous decision, including the venerable Justice Antonin Scalia. Should it be tested again? It’s hard to see getting anywhere near five votes to overturn.
And from a political point of view, it is high-risk for Gov. DeSantis. Yes, it would show DeSantis to be a strong fighter against the establishment, but conservatives already know that about him, and moderate voters might not take kindly to such a radical gesture. One could argue that anything that impedes our ability to win in November effectively risks America in its traditional form ceasing to exist.
However, if the risks are high, so are the rewards: a pitched battle over extradition, without actually challenging Puerto Rico, carries high rewards and more attention to the weaponization of the American justice system. “Not assisting” is its own form of defiance. Make Georgia or New York work every step of the way and use it to highlight the moral turpitude of the indictments. The reality is that it is not just the Department of Justice and federal agencies, but every Democrat District Attorney, who is a potential threat to target political opponents.
The attention on the case through an extradition fight — if Trump would even be onboard, which is very unclear — could have a similar impact as defunding Justice and would demand so much attention that Republicans would have another opportunity to press their case over the heads of the guard dog media and directly to the American people.
A good example of how this actually has worked is when President Trump showed up in person in January 2020 for the March for Life in D.C. Previously, half a million people would show up on the plaza in D.C. and the media would utterly ignore them for a 20-person leftist clown show. But they couldn’t ignore the uniqueness of the President being there and they all covered the speech, showed the enormous crowd they had been hiding, and of course generally misled readers and viewers. But it was covered.
The media would simply have to cover such momentous events. Dishonestly, sure. But that’s a given part of our political landscape. And in their coverage, the reports of Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley might finally see their day.
So by the turn of 2024, we could have primetime impeachment hearings, the fight to defund the FBI, and a slow-walking fight over extraditing the former President. If nothing else, for the first time in a very long time, Democrats would be on the defensive on multiple fronts.
Oh, it would get ugly. But I have news for all of the comfortable, sleepy Republicans out there unwilling to think outside the 2004 box: It’s already ugly. The future of America stands on the edge of a knife. If we don’t fight now, we might not have any weapons left.
