Shadow government

It seems that every day something new is disclosed about Washington, District of Corruption that makes one wonder how this nation can survive all the lies, abuse of power, unfairness of the justice system, and politicizing.

Americans who are interested got to meet Peter Strzok during his testimony before a congressional committee; to say that he was arrogant, conniving, misleading, and evasive doesn’t really do justice to those terms. Perhaps one of the main reasons for his attitude is that he knows the person who will keep the lid on the Clinton mess fairly well.

Peter Strzok’s wife, Melissa Hodgman-Strzok is the Associate Director of the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Three weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Mrs. Strzok was placed in charge of the Clinton Foundation investigation. Mrs. Strzok heads the International Division and in that capacity reviews the evidence and determines whether international securities, fraud, or other financial cases will be referred to the Justice Department and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If Mrs. Strzok simply does nothing, investigations, like the one into the Clinton Foundation are squelched. Over the past twenty-one months there has been no movement on actively investigating the Clinton Foundation – surprise, surprise.

Sixty-three percent of individuals convicted of tax fraud were actually sentenced to confinement in 2016. Confinement means; half-way house, home detention, or placed in minimum security federal prison. The average length of a prison sentence for tax fraud was fifteen months. Paul Manafort is charged with tax fraud and failing to register for representing a foreign government; if convicted Manafort will receive a possible sentence of 305 years in federal prison. It is unlikely Manafort would serve the complete sentence but in all likelihood he would die in federal prison. I presume the extra 303 years and nine months on top of the normal fifteen months would be punishment for helping Trump get elected!

The extreme threat of long-term prison incarceration isn’t about justice; it is about squeezing Manafort and hopefully getting him to reveal something that might be detrimental to President Trump. This was the same technique, though potentially much more severe, which was used to squeeze former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The reality is that no America citizen, no matter their wealth, can’t fight the American Justice System if they are targeted; ask Martha Stewart. The Mueller team squeezed Flynn until he used all his savings, was about to lose his home, and finally had to admit to something to get the Justice Department off his back; he did.

I recently finished reading the John Grisham novel, The Innocent Man. The book reveals the true story of a man wrongly convicted of murder and condemned to be executed. The police, prosecutor, and possibly the judge, all knew the man was innocent. Some years after living on death row, the man was eventually exonerated. What does this incident have to do with Flynn or Manafort you ask?

Guilt or innocence are unfortunately all to often not the moral or ethical imperative in criminal justice. A middle class individual with modest assets has absolutely no chance against the local criminal justice system; even if completely innocent, once charged he will lose everything. When these circumstances are elevated to the federal level where the government has unlimited prosecutors and taxpayer funds, even a wealthy individual stands little chance if the government is committed to his destruction.

Unscrupulous prosecutors who, for personal or political goals, want to use the criminal justice system as a cudgel have all the tools of destruction at their disposal; the individual has only his personal assets to use in order to fight back.

While misuse of the justice system is tragic for an individual, what selective investigation and prosecution does to the national fiber is even more wretched. The United States was founded under the presumption it would be a nation of laws, with equal protection for all. Obviously that presumption and lofty goal for all citizens is but worthless dribble, written on an ancient document, and ignored with impunity.

Have a good week. Bill Shuey is a freelance writer in Grayling, Michigan.