Americans are losing faith in the credibility of the Department of Justice, and it is dangerous. The drip feed of stories coming out of Washington, D.C. is making Americans believe, and not without reason, that justice is no longer blind, and the law is no longer equally applied. What has happened over the last few weeks only serves to reinforce this damaging trend.
First, I want to take a step back and talk about from where we came. I started my career as an agent in the FBI fighting organized crime on the streets of Chicago. Back then, the Justice Department and FBI had a reputation second to none. Even the criminals respected the Bureau—they didn’t like us, far from it, but they did respect us.
In the 1990s, I spent some time with Albert "Caesar" Tocco, the Southside crew boss of part of the Chicago mafia, during his trial. He remarked to me that he felt he got a fair shake with the FBI, there was "no planted evidence, no cheap shots.
"I don’t like the FBI, but I respect the FBI," he said to me. He was sentenced to 200 years for racketeering, conspiracy, and tax fraud, but with a mafia-sense of humor noted that, "at least I didn’t get life."
I tell this story to show you how the FBI was once viewed, the esteem and respect with which the Department of Justice was held.
SPECIAL COUNSEL SAYS HUNTER BIDEN PLEA DEAL IS ‘NOT IN EFFECT’ IN NEW FILING
Let’s fast-forward to 2023. Pundits in Washington throw up their arms and wonder why President Donald Trump’s support remains so high. "Look at all of his indictments", they say. "He’s a criminal. How can anyone support him?" If they took the time to speak with average Americans, they would see that there is a very clear reason why those indictments have had little effect—Americans no longer believe in the fairness of our judicial system. They believe that Justice is not blind but tilting the scales according to politics. It no longer matters whether the indictments have any merit. What matters is a growing part of the country sees the cases against Trump as a political hit-job and nothing more. Were that not enough, the Department’s own behavior is making things a lot worse.
The Department of Justice recently dropped campaign finance charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the failed crypto platform FTX. Bankman-Fried donated over $40 million in the 2022 election cycle, the majority of which went to Democrats. He also was the second-largest donor to the Joe Biden campaign, giving $5.2 million. It is not surprising to see why Americans would believe that the Department of Justice would not want to pursue such an investigation into SBF on those. That sure doesn’t pass the smell test and gives every appearance the scales of justice are tilted.
At the same time, Hunter Biden, the president’s son, received a plea deal that that was wildly inappropriate—one paragraph states that he would have received broad immunity for other crimes committed in exchange for the plea. That is either complete malpractice or insider political dirty dealings. That's the kind plea deal that would make a mobster like Tocco in Chicago blush. Clearly the prosecution was hoping the judge wasn’t paying attention. For Americans, it looks like the president’s son is escaping prosecution for a slate of allegations with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and an outrageous immunity pass for a host of other crimes.
One system of justice for thee, but not for me.
Yet, that case is far from over. The Attorney General went outside of its own rules to appoint a Special Counsel for an investigation where there is a clear conflict of interest affecting the prosecuting authority, in this case, the Department of Justice. It is impossible to think that the same U.S. Attorney that headed the office where the outrageous Hunter Biden plea deal was cooked up can now serve as an impartial, independent Special Counsel. Even if it was possible, the optics are terrible and simply feed the perception of political bias in the legal system and, unfortunately, perception is reality. If you want a truly independent special counsel, you don’t get someone who is already involved in the case, you get someone with absolutely no skin in the game.
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For many Americans each indictment of President Trump is just further proof that the justice system is rigged. A system where Democrats seem to have a different set of rules for them and another one for everyone else. Each action looks, for many, more like political persecution than legal prosecution, and that is corrosive to our country and our politics.
Our legal system is supposed to be fair; justice is supposed to be blind. If crimes are committed, they should be investigated fully and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But when the fairness and impartiality of the bodies tasked with upholding the law are called into question and when the fairness of the law is in doubt, our system of justice begins to erode. As our trust in the legal system begins to fail, ultimately, so too does our democracy—a system that depends on faith and trust.
The Biden administration shows little to no concern that the unprofessional conduct of its Department of Justice and FBI, and continuing string of judicial missteps is negatively affecting how the public views not just them, but the system as a whole. If the public losses faith in the Justice Department’s ability to operate without bias, then they will lose public support, and that spells nothing but trouble for the future.
Lack of public support is the greatest threat of all. Even gangsters understand that.
