Editorial -- No President is Above the Law

Recently, the FBI took the step of raiding the home of former President Donald Trump, looking for classified documents that the former President brought with him when he left office. The object should not be to go after one’s political opponent. The object should be to uphold the law. While people, including Mr. Trump, are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the FBI was within its rights to execute a search warrant on his property, provided that it was properly done, and signed off on by a judge.

This action was not taken against Hillary Clinton, who allegedly illegally deleted 33,000 emails from her private server. This action was not taken against Hunter Biden. If there was probable cause to believe that either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Biden committed a crime of some kind, then the FBI would be derelict in its duty not to get a search warrant. 

This needs to be the start of a new era, in which no president is above the law. It cannot just be a partisan witch hunt against a former President that Joe Biden does not like. 

And it is really interesting that Senator Josh Hawley, who doubtless helped lead the “lock her up” chants in 2016, is now portraying Mr. Trump as the victim. That’s the whole problem. For partisans like Mr. Hawley, if it is Hillary Clinton who is the subject, she should be locked up because she is a Democrat and he is a Republican. But if the FBI does the same thing to Donald Trump, then he is a victim.

Mr. Hawley actually calls for the Attorney General, Merrick Garland, to be impeached over this warrant and for FBI Director Christopher Wray to be fired. The problem is that impeachment is reserved for high crimes and misdemeanors. For Congress to impeach Mr. Garland, we need a set of high crimes and misdemeanors, and they must be convincing enough to get two thirds of US Senators to go along. They cannot just be based on partisan bickering.

Editorial -- Politicians Playing Off Law Enforcement Agencies Against Each Other

Recently, we have noticed a deeply disturbing pattern of politicians playing off state and federal law enforcement against each other. And that’s just wrong.

In 2021, the Missouri Legislature passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which says that federal laws and regulations that infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment must be invalid in Missouri. Missouri is within their rights to litigate against certain federal gun laws in court. The Supreme Court is showing a willingness to explore the issue. But states cannot simply pass nullification acts against federal laws that they don’t like. Furthermore, the law prohibits state and local law enforcement from cooperating in the enforcement of such laws. This is the part which is disturbing, because given the rampant rise of crime, cooperation between federal and state law enforcement agencies is essential. This includes getting guns out of the hands of felons, which is still on the books in Missouri and is still being enforced.

The US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause says that federal law is supreme over state law. We litigated this issue in the 1800’s. It was settled by the Civil War. States cannot simply pass nullification acts against laws they don’t like. 

Now, we have the actions of FBI Director Christopher Wray, who is snooping around. He wants to know the personal information of people in Missouri who have concealed carry permits. Under Missouri state law, sheriffs cannot turn this information over to anyone, even the feds. Privacy is a right that is contained in the US Constitution, and the ruling on privacy was left intact by the Supreme Court when it overturned Roe vs. Wade. 

When Senator Josh Hawley asked Director Wray questions about the nature and scope of the audit, Director Wray cut and run from the questions and refused to answer them. We all agree on the need to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a threat to themselves and others. Missouri has a law against felons possessing firearms, and red flag laws have been passed in Republican controlled states. But Director Wray’s actions go far beyond efforts to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a threat to themselves and others. They are a blatant effort to harass law abiding gun owners, and they are a blatant effort to play off federal, state, and local law enforcement against each other.

While he was appointed by Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has the authority to fire the FBI Director. The fact that he has not done so and has failed to direct Mr. Wray to back off tells me he is OK with the FBI snooping on the records of law abiding gun owners. And then Joe Biden wonders why nobody likes him.