Stone Case Exposes the Arrogance of the Administrative State

Ned Ryun for American Greatness

This abuse of law enforcement and our legal system for political purposes is, in many ways, the ultimate end of the permanent bureaucracy.

With the latest news surrounding the Roger Stone case and the press to send him to jail for nine years, we can apparently now add the Fourth and Sixth Amendments to the growing list of our constitutional rights flying out the window.

Stone’s sentencing, the definition of cruel and unusual punishment for a first-time offender on a process crime, is the latest episode in an ongoing series where liberal fanatics use their power to punish political opponents, the rule of law be damned.

To be honest, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Roger Stone or Paul Manafort. I’ve even had my doubts about former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. But you can’t convince me that it is pure coincidence that only one side of the political aisle is routinely hauled into court on flimsy charges. Especially when we have Andrew McCabe, who the Justice Department has now decided to not prosecute, walking free despite doing the exact same thing Stone and Flynn have been charged with doing.

With reports now coming out that the lead juror in the Stone case was openly anti-Trump, and potentially perjured herself in denying knowledge of who Stone was and then tweeting about him, this has been a rigged process. Yet Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, did not see any reason to bar jurors with apparent bias. She has sworn to uphold the equal application of the law, but apparently, that oath only extends to those who share her political leanings.

But this issue of Roger Stone is about far more than the fate of one man. It is the principles instilled by the Founders that are at risk of collapse—the principles that state unequivocally one is guaranteed a fair trial, due process, an impartial jury, and legal protections under the law regardless of party affiliation—in short, the very principles denied to Stone.

Justice may be blind but you cannot turn a blind eye to the unfairness happening here.

Here’s the thing: The American people are not stupid. They are paying attention. Their common sense kicks in when they see the hijacking of our institutions. Many of us can plainly see there is no equal application of the law anymore.

It does make one wonder how many times were people trapped into perjury and a speedy conviction when no one was looking? Only the high-profile convicts are covered, but let’s face it: any one of us could get trapped into unintentionally lying to a federal agent if those federal agents were fully intent on trapping you.

Seriously: how many of you remember exactly what you said or did in a given moment several years ago?

This abuse of law enforcement and our legal system for political purposes is, in many ways, the ultimate end of the administrative state. This is a consolidation of immense power into the hands of unelected careerists that, in effect, gives them the ability to suspend the Bill of Rights when they so choose, as they so choose. Then, to add insult to injury, these same unelected careerists arrogantly hold in contempt the “deplorable” people who form and fund this republic.

As a case in point consider former Justice Department official Chuck Rosenberg (a Republican mind you—this isn’t always about party) who recently was quoted as saying, “We all understand that the leadership at the top the department is politically appointed and we make peace with that.” How about you make peace with the fact that most of the arrogant careerists in our federal government should be fired? The four career prosecutors who resigned over the Stone sentencing should never have been allowed the face-saving measure of resignation. They should have been fired. My disappointment over the entire episode is that it was only four. If it were 400, well then maybe we’re talking.

Let me spell it out to the administrative state careerists: there is a heck of a lot more to the Constitution and Bill of Rights than the First Amendment.

The various departments inside our leviathan of a bureaucracy, for which you work, were created by the Article I branch of our government —the Legislative Branch, elected by the people. That branch, comprised of those duly elected representatives of the people, are the stewards of power and various monies that are to be used to advance the people’s interests. By that legislation, you are made accountable to not only the Article I branch but also to the Article II branch, the executive. Those two branches are then accountable, via the process of elections, to us. In no way, in our republic, do you career bureaucrats rightfully get to decide anything. Power flows from the people, not you. You work for us.

In his second term, for the sake of the American Republic, Trump must declare war on the administrative state and its many usurpations of power. He must break it apart, dismantle it, fire people, devolve power out of Washington, D.C. Only by reducing our government and putting the federal government back into its proper role will America continue to be free and prosperous. To fail in this is to accept that someday every last American will work for and be a ward of the state.