Legal desk: Russia Probe Had No Justification
A newly released FBI document used to kick off the Russia collusion “fiasco” will likely be “Exhibit A” in court, predicts bureau veteran Kevin R. Brock at The Hill, because it’s a legal “train wreck.” A single person, ex-division chief Peter Strzok, created, approved and sent the order, a violation of “all FBI protocols,” which makes it “invalid on its face.” Strzok opened Crossfire Hurricane to investigate possible violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, such as a “failure to register with the US government after being engaged by a foreign country,” and was required to list legitimate justifications for it. Yet he didn’t even try to cite any — because “there are none.” The document “establishes that Crossfire Hurricane was an illicit, made-up investigation” to take down President Trump. “Let’s pray we see some” accountability.
From the right: Trump Triggered the Twitter Mess
For President Trump, Twitter is “an irresistible invitation to say things unworthy of his office,” sigh the editors of National Review — a habit that “hit its nadir” with his “ongoing series of disgraceful tweets insinuating” that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough committed murder. In response, Twitter announced it would “publicly ‘fact-check’” Trump’s statements, an “attempt to mollify its critics” that “it may come eventually to regret” — with Trump, for starters, vowing to “close down” the platform. Both sides are wrong: Twitter shouldn’t “inject itself into the middle of America’s political debates,” and Trump “cannot ‘close down’ social media” and shouldn’t threaten to.
Anti-Semitism watch: Omar’s Stripes Haven’t Changed
In a recent interview, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) admits her anti-Semitic tweet last year, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” (about the influence of Jewish money), “was hurtful” and claims she’s “past” it — but “not so fast, “ warns Meira Svirsky at the Clarion Project. In that very interview, Omar “invokes the same anti-Semitic trope” as she did in her tweet. “Money and influence,” Omar contends, explain the Saudis’ “destructive” behavior, and it’s “no different” with Israel. “I talk about Saudi blood money and them being bloodsuckers, and no one says, ‘This is Islamophobic.’ But I know if I use those terms for [Israel], that could be [a problem].” Uh, yes, snarks Svirsky: Given how blood libels have led to fatal incitement against Jews, “calling the Jewish state ‘bloodsuckers’ would definitely be a problem.”
Fiscal beat: Don’t Encourage States To Waste
The National Governors Association wants $500 billion in federal aid for states, and the Democrats’ stimulus plan sets aside about $1 trillion for them and local governments, observes City Journal’s Steven Malanga. Yet what officials seek “is likely well beyond” what the current recession will cost states and municipalities. Beside, “analysts have warned for years that another recession was coming” and “states were unprepared.” Clearly, governors are “angling to be held harmless.” Plugging their holes now would only “encourage them to overspend in the future. They’d have less reason to control their budgets, to cut inefficient programs and to try to save money.” Fiscal experts, notes Malanga, warn that “pouring money” into these states without demanding reforms in exchange will only “forestall their financial crises.”
Libertarian: COVID-19 Proves We’re Over-Regulated
“If there’s one thing the coronavirus pandemic has shown,” argues Reason’s Peter Suderman, “it’s that regulation gets in the way.” Americans for Tax Reform lists a “growing” number, now up to 561, of federal and state rules relaxed or suspended because of the COVID pandemic. The rollbacks show these regulations, largely created by a “handful” of unelected federal agencies, are onerous, unnecessary and easy to live without. Meanwhile, the Competitive Enterprise Institute puts their yearly cost at $1.9 trillion. Yes, some rule rollbacks will probably be made permanent. Alas, laments Suderman, “the various governmental pipelines that produced them are likely to remain in place.”
— Compiled by Karl Salzmann & Adam Brodsky
