Outrage
I heard it in Lindsey Graham’s opening statement in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Bill Barr. He was outraged; outraged that the FBI would dare to open a counter-intelligence investigation of the President of the United States. Outraged that they would have the audacity, and in his mind the arrogance, to question the loyalty of the duly elected Chief Executive. He, and other Republican members of the Committee, used the word “unprecedented” over and over. They asked it this had ever happened before in American history. And the answer, over and over, was no.
If you start from the position that the President of the United States is elected by the people and subjected to absolute scrutiny by the voters, the media, and the government; then you might arrive at the conclusion that the process guarantees that he or she is above reproach. President Trump has claimed this when it comes to the nineteen women who charge that he sexually harassed them. The voters adjudicated the question in the election, he says, and they elected me; it’s over.
It is kind of a corollary to the “Unitary Executive” theory. The Unitary theory states that the entire Executive Branch of the government is embodied in the President, and therefore all of the powers belong to him. Given that, then a portion of that Executive Branch, in this case the FBI, cannot investigate HIM. It is a logical absurdity, the President cannot investigate himself, he cannot and would not arrest or indict himself, and since all of the power resides in HIM, it cannot happen.
According to this “theory,” the actions of the FBI are therefore a form of rebellion. It is THEY that are acting outside of the law and the Constitution, making THEM the lawbreakers. The only governmental body able to take these actions is the co-equal legislative branch. It is the Congress only that can investigate, charge, and remove the President.
This is the theory of the Republican conservatives, including Attorney General Designate Bill Barr. It is no wonder that they are outraged, perhaps even without regard for the facts. Our Constitutional system has never considered electing a President who is compromised, though it has been the subject of American fiction. It is the easy way out to stick to the theory, and depend on the “cleansing” of the electoral process to protect America from a “Manchurian Candidate.” Wait until the election of 2020, let the “people” sort this mess out. It is the answer that fits with the “theory,” and perhaps the easiest answer for both political parties. No one is forced to confront the historic and unprecedented possibilities.
But the leaders of the FBI have a different theory to work from. Their theory is that their ultimate responsibility is the national security of the United States. That is based in the oath they took upon entering the FBI:
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
Their allegiance is not to a theory, but to protect the Constitution against real enemies, foreign and domestic. When their facts showed them that the President of the United States, their Chief Executive, was aiding an enemy, they were required to act. They too were outraged, and well aware of the possible consequences of their actions. They struggled to find their way forward, but they acted, following the facts wherever they led, and reaching whatever conclusions those facts required.
Emerson wrote: “when you strike at the king, you must kill him.” The reason is obvious, if you don’t succeed, the king will surely strike and kill you. From the FBI and Justice Department perspective, that is what happened: Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Miller, Rybicki, Ohr; all removed or resigned from the agency. Yet the investigation into the President continues, this time from the Mueller team, so far immune from the direct effects of Presidential attack.
The government is shutdown. We have a manufactured crisis at the border. We have withdrawn from the Paris Accord, forced the re-negotiation of NAFTA, and are questioning our membership in NATO and the United Nations. Daily actions are being taken by our President that discard decades of American policy and leadership. Our world is upside down. Is this just a matter of “elections having consequences” or is there something more insidious happening?
Without the facts, we are left to wonder: who is right? Is it Lindsey Graham and Rudy Giuliani; Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy; or is it the “disgraced” and removed leadership of the FBI? Is the President an “asset” of Russian Intelligence, or the target of an internal “intelligence coup?” Who do we trust, who has the information? However it turns out, we should ALL be outraged.
