OPINION:
Every federal employee, from the guy who cuts the grass on the National Mall to the president, takes an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge their position of public trust.
The Framers knew that protecting our republic from those who would abuse the levers of power was critically important to the survival of this great experiment in self-governance that we call America.
They gave us not only an oath to be sworn before God but also criminal and other penalties for violating that oath by misusing positions of authority.
That oath has become an afterthought, or worse, a joke. The erosion of its importance is a direct assault on the Constitution and the rule of law. The oath must matter again.
There is a culture of lawlessness in our government that should not be tolerated, but it is. A 300-page report from John Durham that the media will ignore and most Americans won’t read isn’t accountability.
One of the reasons that the left in this country is so focused on destroying any fidelity to institutions grounded on defined codes of conduct is that they want an America where there is no established truth, so even the law becomes pliable to the point of irrelevance.
What we’ve seen in the Durham report, witnessed at the border and watched unfold during the pandemic is the type of criminal conspiracy that undermines our entire political system.
The pattern of arguably treasonous behavior is obvious to anyone not bought and paid for by the leftist elites who control the system.
Former President Barack Obama, President Biden, Hillary Clinton and others at the highest levels of our government have all been exposed for their complicity in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, a scheme concocted to illegally spy on a campaign, mislead the public, and discredit and humiliate a president of the opposing party.
A new whistleblower report accuses Mr. Biden of taking bribes in exchange for policy influence. There is mounting evidence that Mr. Biden has used his various offices to make millions for his family and himself.
We now know that the FBI and intelligence officials intentionally downplayed the Hunter Biden laptop story to influence the outcome of the 2020 election. There is a growing body of evidence that the bureau actively discriminates against conservatives.
New evidence suggests the Biden administration violated the whistleblower statute and interfered with an IRS investigation of the president’s son.
The Twitter Files exposed how the White House and federal government agencies colluded with Big Tech to unconstitutionally censor and vilify Americans during the pandemic.
We then have the calculated scheme to circumvent the nation’s immigration laws to allow millions of illegals to move unimpeded across our borders as part of a massive, often surreptitious resettlement operation veiled by a government misinformation campaign. A 2022 Department of Homeland Security operational memo, brought to light in court proceedings, proves that border officials were told to simply release illegals at “hubs” where they can obtain transportation and services.
It’s never been clearer that all of this activity amounts to a series of widespread plots involving large numbers of elected, appointed and career government officials who have abandoned the oaths they took to faithfully execute their offices.
The Founders would consider this corruption high crimes and misdemeanors.
If what we’ve seen here isn’t a case for impeaching a president, members of his administration and complicit government bureaucrats, then the whole notion of accountability is a mirage.
If a president can ignore the law to conduct a nationwide political operation that is directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, crime and fiscal chaos without being held to account, there is no rule of law.
Rep. Adam Schiff should be expelled from Congress. Republicans should stop talking about impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and do it already.
Dozens of executive branch officials should be held accountable through impeachment or other means. Republicans in Congress should undertake an aggressive program of executive branch reform to weaken the deep state’s power. That’s a winning political issue.
Yes, impeachments can be political liabilities for those who advance them. Democrats knew that impeaching former President Donald Trump twice, even though not leading to a conviction, would make it harder for future presidents to be held accountable through what the public would view as a politicized, meaningless process.
Political quandary or not, now is the time to take an aggressive stand against corruption that endangers Americans’ lives and freedom.
Who will prove they’re brave enough to do more than grandstand to make the oath mean something again? We’re waiting.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax and the author of “Tough Sell: Fighting the Media War in Iraq.” He served as an adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from 2003 to 2004.
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