Revenge leads nowhere good
The answer to one side breaking norms is not to further corrupt the system. All that does is discredit law enforcement by destroying the public's trust.
When James Comey was indicted for alleged perjury, people warned about how a prosecution designed to punish one of President Trump’s personal enemies sets a dangerous precedent. There is no question that Trump wants the people involved in his prosecutions and investigations punished, and is willing to use the justice system to get his revenge. This is part of a broader push by both sides to break longstanding norms and ultimately threatens law and order.
Before we go further, can we recognize that President Biden and other Democrats were as guilty as Trump? Biden targeted people with ridiculously disproportionate force and it is obvious that the prosecutions of Trump at both the state and federal level were politically motivated. New York Attorney General Letitia James campaigned on prosecuting Trump in 2018. This reduced trust and respect for the criminal justice system, and undermines the authority of law enforcement. The difference is that Biden pretended it was about the law, while Trump is much more honest about his desire for retribution.
Are the prosecutions and investigations of Comey, John Bolton and others justified, or malicious? The rush to indict Comey for alleged perjury before the statute of limitations expired certainly looks suspicious, as does the investigation of Trump critic Bolton. If there is a violation of law, they should obviously face appropriate consequences for their actions, but abusing the system to get political revenge is not something that even the most enthusiastic Trump supporters should support.
If Trump really wants these people to be convicted and punished, he really needs to be quiet about it. Stop blabbing about the cases in speeches and interviews, and stop posting about them on social media. It would be very easy to prove malicious prosecution using Trump’s public statements and social media posts. Trump has always been undisciplined, but this is sabotaging something he wants to happen.
No, I do not care that “they did it first.” I harshly criticized the cases against Trump, especially related to his adultery with Stormy Daniels. The answer to one side breaking norms is not to further corrupt the system, but to pass laws restricting the power of government to do these things and put harsh criminal penalties in place for malicious prosecution of political opponents. But the people bemoaning the prosecution of Comey and the investigation of Bolton need to just as strongly condemn the abuses of power to prosecute Trump and other conservatives, or they will not have credibility.
We are seeing both Republicans and Democrats argue against norms and reasonable limits on power, because “the bad guys” are doing it too. With each norm broken and each perversion of the system, it encourages the other side to ratchet up the tactics and justify more abuse of power. This kind of mentality is what leads to blood in the streets. When there are no rules, then things spiral out of control. It is a short distance from abusing the legal or legislative system for political revenge to throwing out law and order entirely. This is not a direction we want to go as a country.