I know, I know, I’ve been pretty hard on our government employees lately, particularly the FIB’s. It’s only because every day more evidence comes out indicating they are corrupt as hell. Granted, one could make a case they’ve never been the squeaky clean upstanding shining-lights-on-the-hilltop examples of what a federal law enforcement employee should be, but more and more I’m convinced they are rotten to the core.
Never mind stories about ol HH being a cross-dressing homosexual. Never mind the tales of agents collecting dirt on anybody they could and then blackmailing them to give them a free ride anytime, anywhere. Never mind the more recent revelations about “Operation Crossfire”, top officials lying to Congress and even FISA judges. Never mind the vindication of General Mike Flynn who was destroyed. Actually, DO mind it, ALL of it. Now how about the latest bit?
No, I’m not talking about the raid on Mark Houck’s residence again – even though the link points to another article reveling Houck had already agreed to come in voluntarily. Not to mention the allegations were already dismissed in court. Double jeopardy anyone? No, this latest involves what I can only call a bank heist. (Okay, I stole that idea.)
Here’s the story as told in The Federalist:
FBI Seized $86 Million In Raid On Innocent Americans’ Safe Boxes After Duping Judge For Warrant
For those of you with short attention spans (WHY you read my articles I’ll NEVER understand 🙂 or short on time, they actually raided a private vault company. The owners pled guilty to a conspiracy to launder drug money. However the contents of a reported 1400 safe deposit boxes were seized totaling, well the headline says it: $86 Million. Now get this:
The “reasoning” the Feds gave went something like this: “Well, if they’ve got a lot of cash they are probably doing something illegal.” I don’t know about you but this sort of “justification” sends chills down my spine. Let’s face it, this is an an assumption of guilt rather than the legal standard, the LAW of the LAND, the presumption of innocence.
This is exactly why I object unequivocally to ALL “asset forfeiture” schemes. In EVERY CASE guilt is assumed. Change my mind. The very “argument” for this con game goes like this: “these drug lords (it all started with the ‘war on drugs’ can get off scott free because they have all this illegally gotten drug money and can afford the best lawyers”, etc. and so on.
How many ways is this wrong? First, when it comes to some criminals, I get it. Everybody just knows they are guilty. The problem is, it’s not what anyone knows but what can be proven in a court of law. Yeah, it’s a bitch but that is the price for living in a free country. Now for my second, and possibly more serious objection:
They are rich so they can buy an acquittal, or the equivalent. This damns our entire justice system. It is an outright admission that justice is NOT blind. Basically the rule of thumb is, you get the justice you can afford. This is not always true but ideally, it should never be true. We are so far from this ideal that I can safely say it is mostly true.
This needs to end. All of it. Lopsided justice is doomed to be with us for a while. It is not something that can be fixed easily. On the other hand, our rogue employees on the government tit can be dealt with. They just need to stop. The rules are plain enough. A search warrant needs probable cause. The standards and parameters are clearly defined. There is no need for any government employee to descend on most American homes with such overwhelming force as they have on so many, including former President Trump’s residence. If any agency truly believes they must, they had better have some damn good evidence to support them and their actions need to be under heavy scrutiny. No more will an “oops!” justify outrageous actions. ALL federal employees and elected representatives need to be held accountable for their actions. Any so-called “exemptions” or other kinds of free passes need to be declared null and void. You’ve had your fun at our expense. The bill has come due.