Trump lacks principle on record search
Donald Trump isn’t necessarily wrong in calling attention to potential abuses by the FBI, which he suggests is conducting a witch hunt in searching his Mar-a-Lago property to recover classified documents. This Editorial Board has long decried the possibility — and frequent reality — of the politicization of federal agencies.
We’ve taken a wait-and-see approach toward the raid. Obviously, ex-presidents are not above the law and we can’t justify his document trove, but we’ll watch the investigation play out.
However, it’s difficult to take Trump seriously now given that he rarely espouses a consistent principle related to federal overreach issues (or anything else, for that matter).
“One of the first things we must do is to enforce all classification rules and to enforce all laws relating to the handling of classified information,” candidate Trump said in 2016 regarding the government’s refusal to charge Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified data on her private email account.
A CNN report documents Trump’s statements on classified material. Trump blasted those who leaked communications from appointed National Security Adviser Michael Flynn: “Classified. That’s classified. You go to prison when you release stuff like that,” the former president said.
CNN found myriad Trump statements calling for the prosecution of those who mishandle government data.
He called for imprisonment for “many, many years” of his former aide John Bolton after the publication of Bolton’s White House memoir.
Trump didn’t complain when his supporters chanted “Lock her up” regarding Clinton.
Trump also previously suggested that Wikileaks leader Julian Assange and whistleblower Edward Snowden should face the death penalty for allegedly violating the Espionage Act of 1917, the same law Trump is being investigated for potentially violating.
Of course, the Espionage Act itself has its own problems.
In its early application, it was a tool for shutting down criticism of American involvement in World War I. Socialist Eugene V. Debs was among those imprisoned under the act after giving an anti-war speech. This Editorial Board likewise has also opposed the criminalization of both Assange and Snowden.
“The fact that the Espionage Act may be used against Trump does not magically make it good,” noted former Libertarian Congressman Justin Amash on Twitter. “It has a terrible history of abuse. Government has employed it to avoid scrutiny and chill free speech, and it violates basic tenets of due process. Nobody should be cheerleading this law.”
That’s right. Of course, neither Trump nor most of his supporters have been so consistent.
This Editorial Board has espoused a simple principle: Federal agencies have a legitimate role in enforcing laws, but need to be on a short leash.
The larger the government grows, the more abusive its police agencies become — as evidenced by scandals at the IRS and FBI.
Most federal actions target ordinary citizens and garner less attention than raids of former presidents.
Unfortunately, both parties decry federal actions that target their leaders, yet celebrate similar actions against opponents.
It’s time for both sides to recognize that an overreaching federal government poses threats to everyone and must embrace a consistent policy that reins in federal power.