Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I'm not confused about the differences, but Trump -- the man to whom DOJ reports -- asked Ukraine to open formal proceedings to investigate Biden, and invited them to work with the Attorney General. He could have smeared Biden without any of that. He was trying to kickstart a real investigation to make the smear (more) real. Do you not see any difference between that and, say, rage-tweeting?
And suppose it was just smearing. Why are you OK with government officials using their office to smear someone unfairly?
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Trump's actions in seeking to investigate for political reasons are indefensible. Seeking to imprison or fine Hunter for political gain is an abuse of the prosecutorial power, and if Barr went along with it, I think Barr would be subject to having his license suspended, and probably should have it suspended.*
Smearing is a different thing. I'm not as concerned about that. Were Trump to do it smartly, as many politicians do, by simply having intermediaries hint to foreign govt contacts that they'd really appreciate some dirt on an opponent, and such dirt were provided without an explicit quid pro quo, or any trail of written communication that could connect the request to the politician, it would be icky but fall into the "just politics" bin.
But this is Trump, and he can't do anything in an intelligent or carefully planned manner.
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* I think Barr is walking an ethical tightrope in going after Clapper and Brennan. But I'm not as concerned there because I think Brennan and Clapper are also unethical. Durham, Clapper, Barr, and Brennan deserve to drag each other down together. That's a Mexican standoff that ought to be allowed to move to completion.
