President Trump has every right to seek retribution against those who have undermined and attacked him — often using illegal means — for more than a decade. All the bogus charges, the over-the-top fines, the spying and targeting by Joe Biden’s Justice department and New York Attorney General Letitia James’s campaign promise to “get Trump.”
He deserves the chance to punch back.
But what critics call his “revenge tour” must be done judiciously, or it will do more harm than good.
Just this past week, the Justice Department and the president have zeroed in (one way or another) on James Comey, Jimmy Kimmel, David Morens and Somali scammers in Minneapolis. Some of these targets make sense, but others do not. Pursuing foolish vendettas (like prosecuting Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell) or lodging flimsy charges (against Letitia James, for example) takes away from the gravity of prosecuting those who deserve it most.
Former FBI Director James Comey is, in my view, a bad guy. I consider him a dishonest and self-serving actor who conspired to undermine a duly elected president. He deserves punishment. But going after him for a social media post about seashells arranged in a purportedly nefarious manner is not smart. This prosecution will likely fail. Comey has denied he knew the meaning of the seashells’ “86 47” arrangement, which some interpreted as a call to assassinate Trump. How can anyone prove he knew?
If Comey skates, frustration on the right will mount. Too many opponents loathed by Republicans are walking free, despite misdeeds much worse. Some destroyed government communications (Hillary Clinton). Others evaded years of taxes (Hunter Biden). Almost certainly, Comey will dodge justice as well.
Attacking late-night host Kimmel is similarly pointless. Trump and his wife are demanding that ABC fire the deeply unfunny late-night comic. But this only increases his ratings among Trump-deranged viewers. Moreover, guaranteeing freedom of speech is a core American and conservative value. Kimmel’s comment about Melania as an “expectant widow” was tasteless and — in light of yet another attempt on Trump’s life — perhaps dangerous. But giving Kimmel the attention he wants accomplishes nothing. It only violates his right to make an ass of himself yet again.
On the other hand, going after David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, is brilliant and well deserved.
After the outbreak of COVID, Morens allegedly conspired to protect funding for EcoHealth Alliance, an organization receiving federal grants that helped finance dangerous gain-of-function research at the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Morens evidently communicated via private email with the head of EcoHealth, Dr. Peter Daszak, encouraging him to do the same — blatantly coaching him how to avoid FOIA inquiries. Morens was one of many actors in the COVID drama who apparently deceived the public about the cause of the pandemic, and his own possible role in its creation.
Many believe former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci lied to Congress about his agency giving grants to EcoHealth; he even received a preemptive “autopen” pardon from former President Joe Biden.
Trump has suggested those pardons not personally signed by Biden might be invalid. The statute of limitations on Fauci’s alleged misdeeds is near; we should know very soon whether he will also face charges.
The COVID outbreak killed millions of people around the globe. The Chinese have never been held accountable for this mass murder, or for the fact that they covered up the origin of COVID and withheld critical information about the virus for months, costing many lives. Also, members of our medical community who shut down debate about the causes of the disease and possible treatments have never been held accountable.
The attacks on doctors who challenged Fauci and other medical officials, and the dictatorial directives issued from the federal government about how to combat the virus, were among the worst acts in our country’s history. People died who might have been saved by a freer exchange of information.
Children also lost years of learning because Fauci and the teachers unions insisted, without medical proof, that schools be closed.
It is worthy and essential to bring accountability to that hideous public health episode. That assumption of authoritarian powers in a moment of crisis must never happen again, which is why I sincerely hope Fauci is next on the list.
As for the welfare fraudsters in Minneapolis, they deserve their day in court for allegedly stealing billions and depriving those in need of help. And Minnesota is not alone — tracking down the hundreds of billions in welfare fraud across the nation — money that even the Biden administration admitted was being looted every year — is essential, and it is good politics. As Democrats ramp up their demands to tax the rich, it is important to reveal how bloated and sloppy blue states tend to be with their spending, and how much taxpayer money is simply stolen by thieves and gangsters every year.
The White House is taking the anti-fraud initiative seriously, appointing Vice President JD Vance our “fraud czar.” Trump has indicated that the focus will be on Democrat-led states. More revelations of careless oversight, at best — and at worst corruption — will spill out in coming months, beginning with a major hospice scam in California. Already, several people have been arrested and charged with “running sham hospice care facilities that bilked Medicare by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries.”
This is an excellent way to discredit 2028 hopeful and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has been relentlessly campaigning while letting his state decline. Other aspiring Democrats (perhaps Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro) could find themselves bogged down with similar problems.
Exposing Democrats’ embrace of fraud and holding people like Morens accountable is the kind of “revenge” the country will salute, and that Trump deserves. But please let Comey stew in his own sewer and ignore Jimmy Kimmel.
This article originally appeared on TheHill.com
