Matt Beebe writes for the Federalist that the U.S. Justice Department has a sordid history when it comes to enabling corrupt prosecutors.
To some extent, the backlash that Jack Smith has been receiving since the unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump is unfair — he’s merely a symptom of a larger problem that predates his promotion in 2010 to helm the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Section and his more recent assignment as special counsel in the Trump documents case. But the backlash is also predictable, as Americans grow increasingly intolerant of what they perceive as two standards of justice.
To be clear, all prosecutions involve discretion — and with that comes the obvious peril of having that discretion influenced by bias. Any prosecutor or commentator that says bias doesn’t creep into all these decisions is lying to themselves and you.
This is likely where the cries of “but her emails” have some merit — the discretion exercised in the Hillary Clinton case of mishandling classified information was entirely different than in Trump’s current case. Of course, the fact patterns are different, so there is no common rubric that would allow a direct comparison, but you could easily write up a damning indictment of Clinton’s misuse and obstruction. Comey acknowledged the FBI avoided doing that because the election was looming and they didn’t want to trigger a constitutional crisis (because he erroneously assumed she would win). …
… In an analysis of DOJ misconduct, one case casts a long shadow: the investigation, trial, and conviction of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, with the ensuing scandal of misconduct and subsequent dismissal. Of course, his “exoneration” came only after irreparable damage to his reputation and the destruction of his political career had already occurred. That his defeat meant a Democrat would represent Alaska in the Senate for the first time since 1981 and go on to cast the deciding vote for Obamacare only adds to the sting of the injustice in the eyes of many Americans.
