In January, the newly-established Republican House majority took immediate action by creating a special subcommittee dedicated to uncovering instances of alleged political persecution by the FBI and other federal agencies. Representative Jim Jordan, an ally of former President Trump and the committee chair, emphasized the importance of investigating how these agencies have been weaponized against the very people they are meant to represent. Even staunch establishment Republicans like Tom Cole agreed that the executive branch has, in recent years, abused its authority and violated the civil liberties of American citizens for political gain.
Since its formation, the subcommittee has conducted a series of meetings and pursued various ideas, many of which focused on Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. However, they have yet to provide any definitive evidence of government wrongdoing, let alone something on the level of the 1970s Church Committee investigation, which Republicans often refer to as a model.
Perhaps Representative Jordan’s search for government weaponization was misguided. A recent indictment obtained by Special Counsel Jack Smith presents a perfect example of the very weaponization Jordan seeks, albeit by Trump and his allies in an attempt to cling to power against the will of the American people.
To understand what weaponization entails, it’s important to recognize that different administrations have distinct policy inclinations and interpretations of the law. While some actions may appear questionable, such as Democrats’ accusations that Trump unfairly favored red states during the early stages of the pandemic or Republicans’ claims that Obama bullied state governments into expanding entitlements, these actions are not inherently illegal or unethical.
However, if a federal agency deliberately made false claims under official cover with the explicit goal of achieving a political or electoral outcome, that would constitute a clear instance of government weaponization. And that’s precisely what Smith alleges happened: Trump and his associates supposedly used the Justice Department to make knowingly false claims of election fraud, supported by a formal letter signed by the Acting Attorney General, in an effort to influence targeted states into replacing legitimate Biden electors with Trump’s preferred candidates.
According to the indictment, a co-conspirator, likely Jeffrey Clark, the then-assistant attorney general, went against Justice Department rules by meeting with Trump at the White House. Following these discussions, Clark drafted a letter for the Georgia legislature, urging them to hold a special session to decide which set of electors to endorse, despite these claims being false. The intent behind the letter was to cast doubt on the election results and provide a pretext for Republican members of Congress to reject Biden’s victory on January 6.
Trump’s attempt to weaponize government investigations is not unprecedented. He previously employed this strategy during the Ukraine scandal in 2019, where the announcement of an investigation was more important than the investigation itself for his political purposes. He tried a similar move in late October 2020 regarding Hunter Biden, understanding that the investigation’s actual outcome was irrelevant; the mere suggestion of scandal could benefit him.
Fortunately, Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue declined to sign Clark’s letter, explicitly stating that the claims were false. However, Clark persisted and informed his superiors that Trump planned to appoint him as acting attorney general. Eventually, Trump relented after Donoghue and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen warned him of mass resignations within the DOJ if Clark were appointed.
While the allegations in the indictment have yet to be proven in court, their credibility is supported by reports from reputable news sources such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. The House January 6 committee provided additional details through sworn testimony. Interestingly, the Trump campaign’s response to the indictment did not contest the allegations.
As stated in the indictment, the purported conspiracy aimed to infringe upon the constitutional right to vote and have one’s vote counted, injuring and oppressing American citizens. Tom Cole was correct in asserting that the federal government abused its authority for political purposes. However, he should have been more specific about which president and political party were responsible for these abuses.
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