Eric Boehlert: It's worse than Watergate

[babylonsister]

It’s worse than Watergate
Abuse of power
Eric Boehlert
3 hr ago


Stunning new abuse-of-power revelations remind us of the Trump administration’s complete disregard for democratic principles. We now know that over a span of years it took extraordinary legal measures, including gag orders and secret tribunals, in pursuit of email records from reporters at CNN and the Washington Post. Team Trump also unleashed the courts on Democratic members of Congress and their families trying to obtain private phone records, as well as secretly targeting a key White House attorney, who possibly fell under suspicion for not being sufficiently loyal to Trump.

The disturbing portrait now in focus is one of a Republican White House that for four years worked in tandem with partisan prosecutors to systematically politicize the vast powers of the Justice Department, which often treated Trump’s allies leniently, and used unprecedented tools to target his foes. It was Trump recklessly using the executive branch to gather private information on members of the legislative branch, as well as members of the media.

The emerging scandal already eclipses Richard Nixon’s Watergate in terms of the benchmarks we use to gauge Washington, D.C. abuse of power. It’s “Nixon on stilts and steroids,” Nixon’s former White House Counsel John Dean recently told CNN. "Nixon didn't have that kind of Department of Justice.”

It’s worse than Watergate because the White House abuse of power was purposely powered by the Justice Department. This would have been if U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell had helped plot the Watergate break-in, instead of a band of rogue Nixon sycophants. This is worse because it’s institutional abuse conducted by political entities with boundless authority, such as the White House and the DOJ.

“Taken together with the Republican Party’s refusal to hold Trump to account for the Capitol insurrection and its nationwide efforts to restrict voting, the new allegations also indicate that the freedoms and core values that have underpinned American life for two-and-a-half centuries remain in almost unprecedented peril,” stressed CNN’s Stephen Collinson.

more...

https://pressrun.media/p/its-worse-than-watergate

[Me.]

1. HOw Was Prosecutor Balantine Able To Bring Thosse Supoenas Before a Judge?

and by whose say so or was she one of those partisan prosecutors?

[moondust]

2. Nixon was a choirboy

compared to Capo45.

I was naive enough to believe the "Party of Lincoln" would learn its lesson from the Nixon debacle and clean up its act. But it only got worse. Much worse.

[Kablooie]

3. Nixon did not go to jail.

No consequences have consequences.

[Raster]

5. Boom! And there you have it!

Nixon should have been prosecuted, and if found guilty, subjected to the full extent of the law, including incarceration.
He was a crook. And a liar. And a con.
Nixon should have gone to prison.

[ShazzieB]

8. Blame Gerald Ford.

No one had a chance to prosecute Nixon. Pres. Ford, Nixon's sucessor, gave Tricky Dick a "full, free, and absolute" pardon for any crimes he may have committed while in office. This action was widely condemned at the time, but nobody could do a dadblasted thing about it.

[onetexan]

36. Precisely. Nixon gave the precedent on abuse of power without consequences

The Con followed that playbook & amplified the abuse 1000-fold. At least nixon was an intellifent man. The con is ignominious &rotten to the core.

Ford wad a pats
y & was essentially Pence, only Pence is 100 worse given his faux religious leanings.

[NoMoreRepugs]

10. Thank you Jerry Ford - u F'en tool.

[summer_in_TX]

29. People generally do their best

but sometimes make mistakes.

Ford seemed to genuinely believe that prolonging the prosecution of Nixon would harm the nation.

I don't agree. But I think he was an okay guy doing what he thought would be best. Not a tool.

[July]

38. IMO, Ford put party over country.

The prosecution of Nixon was never begun, let alone prolonged.

It would have been good for the country if Nixon and others who abused their powers had been held accountable in court.

But it would have shown more than one Republican in a very bad light. And we couldn’t have that, could we?

[NullTuples]

39. Pelosi seemed to genuinely believe

... that prolonging the prosecution of Bush-Cheney would harm the nation & look where that got us.

They were convicted of international war crimes but found no punishment here at home.

The GOP learned from that experience that they could act with impunity. A year or two later, Mitch McConnell began his reign of obstruction & his takeover of the courts. The GOP started up operation redmap to skew every race they could through overt gerrymandering & voter oppression.

And here we are.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. "Nixon did not go to jail."

...only because of Gerald Ford.

A federal grand jury was about to indict Nixon for bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and obstruction of a criminal investigation when he was pardoned.

Donald Trump will receive no presidential pardon.

[hookaleft]

33. How do we really know he doesn't have a pocket pardon hmmm? n/t

[lagomorph777]

25. "No consequences have consequences."

Perfectly stated.

[calimary]

30. DAYUM, Kablooie! Now THERE's a talking point!

No consequences have consequences.

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Hugin]

34. Yeppers.

A big thick line leads directly to where we are today.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

37. Yes and yes. . . . nt

[bucolic_frolic]

4. "gag orders and secret tribunals"

Any Republicans Kompromized? Or they were simply "loyal"?

[jalan48]

6. Fifty years ago the country and even the Republicans were outraged when Nixon's illegal

activities became public. How times have changed as we've evolved into an oligarchical form of government.

[UCmeNdc]

7. K&R

[llashram]

11. this

[Augiedog]

12. EVERYTHING the orange anus touches turns to shit.

[Mr. Ected]

13. If you dialed up DU every day during the Trump administration like I did

His criminality was on full display with little filter. If the media had only fulfilled its duty, we might have had a fighting chance to stave off fascism before it took full root. Now, it's going to be an uphill battle and our future lies in the balance.

[Javaman]

15. it was worse that watergate when they got the recording of

the orange asshole saying where he would grab a woman.

[BobTheSubgenius]

16. "a cancer on the Presidency"

Remember that? It seems almost quaint now.

That "cancer," as serious as it was, wasn't even a skin tag, compared to the malignancy recently foisted upon America, its government, and is people. Nixon wasn't trying to overthrow the established order, but to game it for his own agenda. As bad as was that agenda and the whole paradigm surrounding it, what was attempted in very recent history and is still alive today is far, far worse. Almost immeasurably worse, because it would be the end of everything good about the American government and institutions.

[KS Toronado]

23. Hey Bob, congratulations on passing 10,000 posts.

[BobTheSubgenius]

24. Thank you very much.

[calimary]

31. I sure do remember that!

Your description is outstanding!

“That ‘cancer,’ as serious as it was, wasn't even a skin tag, compared to the malignancy recently foisted upon America, its government, and is people.”

[lpbk2713]

17. Watergate was political hanky-panky by comparison.

Trump conspired with a foreign power (Putin) to corrupt our government.

Why is this traitor not in jail yet?

[Baked Potato]

18. Republican leadership could care less. They only answer to donors. nt

[Turbineguy]

19. Watergate was a college prank

compared to trump.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

20. Pandora's box had its lid torn off and ripped to piecex.

With so many imitators around the country, how is it remotely possible to fix us?

SOS

[RANDYWILDMAN]

21. Watergate faced no punishment...

so we all knew this would be worse.

And just think if Ford had any foresight. repubs cover for repubs PERIOD ! this is the 50 year problem

[Jarqui]

22. It might explain Trump's hold on the GOP

If he used these extraordinary measures to get dirt on members of the GOP, he could blackmail them into doing his bidding.

Example? See Lindsey Graham.

It was pretty obvious that they'd flipped Lindsey with Kompromat. Now ,we seem to have further insight into how they could have obtained that Kompromat.

Does Congress twiddle it's thumbs on what to do? Probably.

Basically, Trump did what he accused the Democrats of doing.

[lagomorph777]

26. Exactly. Turd got tired of outsourcing Kompromat-collection to the KGB.

So he was setting up his own shop.

[calimary]

32. Undoubtedly.

That projection shtick is always the “tell.”

Whatever he accuses somebody else of doing, he IS ACTUALLY DOING at the same time, or has been doing for awhile.

[Blue Owl]

27. Sewagegate

Like, raw Sewagegate straight from t***p's cesspool

[ffr]

28. Nixon 2.0. The Reputicans figured they'd perfected the crime this time.

Take Mitch McConnell out of the equation and half of their double-down mess wouldn't exist.

[Demovictory9]

35. so many times, stuff Trump has done has been called "worst than watergate"... nothing comes of it