Presidential immunity: Personal versus presidential duties

The Justice Department is, for the first time, taking a former president to court on criminal charges with the theory that his post-presidential actions were for personal benefit instead of relating to his presidential duties.

The three liberal Supreme Court justices, who almost always vote in lockstep, seem concerned that if President Trump’s actions were indeed permitted under the scope of the Presidential Records Act, it will essentially mean he has immunity; they (ostensibly)  worry tyrants that run the government for their own personal benefit, instead of working for the benefit of the people, will become the norm.

(Surreal isn’t it?)

I would challenge the justices, the media, and everyone else to look at the following actions of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and tell me how this wasn’t already the case. Basically everything they did (and do) is for selfish reasons.

IRS. Obama used the IRS to target his political opponents, violating the free speech rights and freedom of association rights of Tea Party members to silence them before the election.

Benghazi. As Americans were under attack in Benghazi, Obama and Hillary didn’t lift a finger to help them. Instead they concocted a lie that a video caused a spontaneous attack, instead of admitting what they knew: it was a planned terrorist attack. Obama sent Susan Rice out to all the networks to regurgitate the lie. The lie was obviously for personal benefit—Obama was running for reelection.

Iran. Obama dictatorially told the supposedly independent Justice Department to halt a years-long investigation into a billion-dollar-a-year terrorist drug-running operation, to appease Iran. Obama clearly abused his power to cater to Iran, thinking it would be a “diplomacy” point of pride on his personal legacy. Obama took an oath to enforce the law, not to let terrorists be above the law and harm the American people. How many people died from drug overdoses and terrorist attacks because of Obama’s dictatorial act?

DACA. Obama admitted he did not have the right to change immigration law without congressional approval but did it anyway because he thought it would get votes for Democrats, and because his goal was to remake America. This action clearly did not fall in line with what a president is authorized to do, so it was for personal benefit.

Net Neutrality. Obama said that “net neutrality” was for the little guy, but the main benefit went to huge internet empires like Google, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, and Amazon, because the billionaire-owners wouldn’t have to pay for the infrastructure; Google essentially had an office at the White House.

Obama did not go through the legislative process to get net neutrality.

As soon as Obama left office, he and Michelle received a payback from Netflix for $65 million, despite having no expertise or content. That sure looks like a huge personal benefit for his executive actions while he was president.

And now the billionaires are being rewarded again—and again, without going through the legislative process.

Spying. Obama used the Justice Department to spy on Trump and associates during Trump’s first campaign, because he wanted career criminal Hillary to continue his policies to remake America. Essentially, Obama politicized the Justice Department to target his political enemies instead of focusing on enforcing laws. That is pure abuse of power for personal benefit.

Slush Funds. Obama had slush funds at CFPB, the EPA, and the Justice Department. The departments essentially shook down corporations with lawfare—excuse me, I mean lawsuits. Then when they got payments, instead of giving the payments to the supposed victims, they would siphon off money to give kickbacks to Democrat political supporters. These funds were obviously for the benefit of Obama and other Democrats, which is certainly not something a president is supposed to do. From National Review:

President Biden will call on the Justice Department to consider reinstating an Obama-era practice that allowed prosecutors to reach settlements in which defendants payed [sic] compensation to third-party groups instead of directly to victims, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

Trump got rid of the slush fund, but Biden clearly loves slush funds.

Student Loans. Biden continues to dictatorially transfer debt, forcing people who didn’t borrow money to pay for the loans taken out by those who did, in order to buy votes. This clearly is not something a president has the authority to do. It is for his personal benefit.

Keeping Schools Closed. The Biden administration supported keeping schools closed, not because of science, but essentially at the direction of teachers’ unions. This policy damaged an unknown number of children, and it was clearly a move to keep the money flowing to Democrats from their biggest supporters. It certainly wasn’t what a president should do.

Open Borders. Biden, like presidents do, took an oath to enforce the nation’s laws, yet on day one, to keep a campaign promise, he started dismantling the law at the border and millions of illegals from around the world have flooded into the U.S., causing untold damage and harm. It is clearly personal when a president ignores the law.

Trump’s court cases. It is very clear that the Biden White House has met with and coordinated the lawfare campaigns of the Justice Department, New York prosecutors, and Georgia prosecutors. It is obviously a personal issue when a president uses government officials and the system to destroy his opponent.

Politicizing the Justice Department. We have seen the Justice Department, namely Merrick Garland, target parents at the behest of the National School Boards Association. Biden’s DOJ and FBI have also persecuted Catholics and Trump supporters, alleging these types of people are “extremists.”

Meanwhile, FBI director Christopher Wray recently said the agency isn’t even monitoring the “protests” at universities, where people are advocating the destruction of Israel, the killing of Jews, taking hostages, and vandalizing buildings and property. The FBI also has shown almost no interest in vetting the millions of illegals coming in, or any concern about all the pro-crime DAs throughout the country.

But for the first time a former President is being criminally charged for questioning an election in which a number of state election officials refused to abide by their own state laws.

It is a much greater threat to democracy when Biden and Obama weaponize federal agencies and use unelected bureaucrats to issue massive regulations to control so many aspects of our life without going through the legislative process, than Trump, whose governing principle was to give as much power, money, and freedom back to the people, which is the opposite of what a self-interested dictator would do.

Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered.