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What it looks like when a Justice System Gets "Weaponized" -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/what-it-looks-like-when-a-justiceThe Flagrant Red Flags that Help Distinguish when our Justice System is actually being used Improperly
We hear a lot these days about “weaponization” of the justice system. That’s for two reasons:
The concern with the term being thrown around too loosely is that it obscures or makes normal the genuine incidents of weaponization of the justice system, such as one that is currently unfolding before us.
. . .
{Fake “Weaponization” Alert: Never in the cases against Trump did any administration official ever make public comments about Trump’s guilt; the Department of Justice did not speak of it outside of its pleadings about the case.}
What they are doing now is real weaponization. It’s a clear illustration of the difference between false claims of weaponization used in a massive political propaganda campaign, and actual weaponization. All the red flags of weaponization are flying: internal warnings that the case had no merit; removing officials for disagreement; proceeding without a career attorney; getting shot down by the magistrate judge; case-shopping after the disaster.
It is both revealing and incumbent on us to remember that none of these ever happened in any of the federal cases against Trump.
One, MAGA Republicans’ dear leader is a convicted criminal, and only dodged proper sentencing and further criminal charges by getting elected and receiving sweeping presidential immunity from a Supreme Court he stacked with right-wing justices. It’s a convenient narrative to blame the system’s “weaponization,” diverting focus away from the fact that their leader is a convicted criminal.
Two, for those pursuing autocracy, accusations signal intentions. It’s a honed technique—you blame the other side for what you intend to do, so that when you’re caught, it looks like offsetting penalties. We all do it. Consider, for instance, the baseless “Biden Crime Family” taunt.
The concern with the term being thrown around too loosely is that it obscures or makes normal the genuine incidents of weaponization of the justice system, such as one that is currently unfolding before us.
. . .
{Fake “Weaponization” Alert: Never in the cases against Trump did any administration official ever make public comments about Trump’s guilt; the Department of Justice did not speak of it outside of its pleadings about the case.}
What they are doing now is real weaponization. It’s a clear illustration of the difference between false claims of weaponization used in a massive political propaganda campaign, and actual weaponization. All the red flags of weaponization are flying: internal warnings that the case had no merit; removing officials for disagreement; proceeding without a career attorney; getting shot down by the magistrate judge; case-shopping after the disaster.
It is both revealing and incumbent on us to remember that none of these ever happened in any of the federal cases against Trump.