Sunlight is the best disinfectant in government
Spearheaded by left-wing media, the American left incessantly and repetitively levels dozens of mostly superficial charges at President Donald Trump.
They call him a bully, a tyrant, an embarrassment, a buffoon. Yet, unlike genuine tyrants, President Trump hasn’t executed or even imprisoned a single critic; his “bullying” has largely been in response to media attacks; the left’s faces are crimson from anger, not embarrassment; and no one is laughing at the president. The bellyachers remain too apoplectic over having blown a “surething” election to even smile.
President Trump’s critics are so hysterical that normal Americans, especially those who have suffered similar left-wing attacks and condemnations, reflexively side with him. Charges that might be taken seriously in a less highly-charged political environment get lost in the craziness.
Nonetheless, government must be accountable to the American people. Americans deserve the truth about Russian 2016 election interference, FBI investigations into both candidates/campaigns, and whether federal agencies attempted to influence the result.
Even though it’s subject to congressional oversight, the FBI has denied Congress or provided only heavily-redacted FBI documents that would reveal the facts. One FBI operative appearing before congressional committees declined to answer questions on the advice of “FBI attorneys.” The FBI hasn’t been forthcoming about what prompted them to exonerate Hillary Clinton, forego forensic analysis of a “hacked” DNC server, investigate the Trump campaign, nor have they explained their use of a salacious, unverified “Trump” dossier paid for and provided by Clinton’s campaign.
No one doubts that, if President Trump colluded with Russia, hard evidence would already be public. But media have paid little attention to Hillary Clinton who as Secretary of State famously declared a “Reset” with Russia and oversaw the sale of one-fourth of America’s uranium reserves to a Russian company which netted $millions for the Clinton Foundation and a $500,000 speech for her husband. Then-President Barack Obama’s hot mic instruction to Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Secretary, “Tell Vladiimir after my election, I’ll have more flexibility,” has never been investigated or explained.
There’s an easy fix, a “trump” card every president holds.
President Trump, the head of the Executive Branch, can remind his constitutionally-ordained subordinates in the Justice Department, including the FBI, and every other agency, that they are legally subject to presidential orders and congressional oversight. Under the U.S. Constitution, unelected bureaucrats are accountable to elected officials who owe Americans honest governance, including the truth about how and by whom they’re governed.
A president’s constitutional powers as commander-in-chief include the ultimate authority to classify and/or declassify information. President Trump can order the declassification of all material subpoenaed by Congress — including classified information already in its possession — regarding Russia, collusion and potential FBI/Justice Department abuses by current and Obama-era officials. Fraudulent claims of “national security” cannot be allowed to hide malfeasance by lawless, out-ofcontrol bureaucrats.
Care can exercised to prevent disclosure of anything that genuinely bears on national security, but, on all other matters, lawbreakers must be publicly identified and suffer the appropriate penalties. Let the sunshine in.