The big takeaway from the Justice Department Inspector General (IG) report is: welcome to the banana republic of the United States — it is okay for government institutions to operate illegally to change the outcome of a presidential election. Let us repeat this last point: it is okay for government to make decisions and take actions to undercut and change the outcome of elections.
Before attempting to fix the presidential election, Hillary and Obama had already put in place another key aspect of a banana republic, and this feature is that top officials skim off millions of dollars for their own bank accounts at the expense of the nation. Everyone most likely is familiar with Hillary Clinton managing the sale of 20 percent of the nation’s uranium supply in return for the Clinton’s coffers receiving about $145 million.
In other words, in America the characteristics of a banana republic are firmly in place. To those, including the inspector general, who choose to characterize what the FBI, the Justice Department, and other government agencies did as “inappropriate and insubordinate,” they need to review the clear vision of Ronald Reagan. There were those who chose to characterize the U.S.-Soviet cold war as a misunderstanding, caused by different viewpoints. Reagan, however, saw the Cold War differently. He said there was such a thing as “right” and “wrong,” and the Soviet Union was an “evil empire.”
The illegalities and actions of the FBI, the Justice Department, and other parts of the Obama Administration boil down to a “right” and “wrong” choice. If America lets what happen go by, unpunished and unrecognized for what it was, a threat on the democracy and nation, then heaven help America.
Anyone paying attention can see that the Democrats, in power when the illegalities occurred, do not want the truth to come out and damage their reputation. The Democrats are attempting to drag this cover-up out. The hope is that the statute of limitations will make prosecution impossible, or an election will return Democrats to a stronger voice in government, and they can simply stop all activity to determine the truth. It is safe to say these Democrats' first thoughts are not patriotism and the health of the democracy. At the pace this IG is investigating and his dainty conclusions, it is likely few will pay a price and the entire horrible mess will be clouded enough, so blame will not be conclusively assigned.
The Justice Department cover up may have worked without many people even suspecting what really had happened, except too much information is already known. We know many officials did illegal actions to change the outcome of a presidential election and conceal the dishonesty of one of the presidential candidates.
The IG report is essentially a “company” report. He works for the Justice Department. The problem is that there is no law enforcement organization above the Justice Department, and the Justice Department is the outlaw. All America has to fall back on now is “checks and balances” of the Constitution. Since the Justice Department has refused to comply with checks and balances from the Congress, all that remains to hold the Justice Department accountable is the president.
President Trump must order the Justice Department to give up the 1.2 million documents requested by Congress. This is essential to do, but probably is not sufficient. The Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is useless. If Sessions will not take control of this mess, he needs to go. Perhaps Sessions could quietly resign to be with his family or something, but he is a massive problem and impasse of any effort to clean-up the Justice Department and FBI. Trump needs to clean it out. There are good people available to help, but they need to be appointed and put to work.
America is at a turning point. If the Obama Administration Departments are allowed to get away with this, the America we know is over.
John Havick has a Ph.D. in political science. He was a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology for many years, authored several books and a number of articles, including the widely cited "The Impact of the Internet on a Television-Based Society." His work has appeared in The New York Times, and his recent book, "The Ghosts of NASCAR: The Harlan Boys and the First Daytona 500," is available at ghostsofnascar.com. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.