Trump / FBI / Russians

Powerful House Democrats are about to blitz the Trump administration with subpoenas and investigations. Pay attention to their nonprofit helpers, many of which are new.

For nearly a decade, the left has decried the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which restored speech freedoms and enabled hundreds of tea-party groups. For just as long, they have bitterly criticized conservative watchdogs such as Judicial Watch, which they accuse of using litigation to hound the Obama administration. Various liberals have called Judicial Watch a “smear sausage” factory, identified it as the epicenter of “Clinton Derangement Syndrome” and accused it of “weaponizing the Freedom of Information Act for political purposes.”

But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Judicial Watch has many great admirers. Progressive nonprofits are popping up all over Washington, shepherded by powerful liberal political players, funded by sources unknown, modeled on conservative groups and united in burying the Trump administration under a mountain of scandal. The White House would do well to understand that in some ways these groups are its most potent threat.

Consider Democracy Forward, which launched last year with a mission of “fighting government corruption in court.” Sound familiar? The board includes Marc Elias, the Democratic lawyer behind the infamous Steele dossier, and John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. It’s a big operation as these things go, with a staff composed largely of Obama administration lawyers and advisers. And it’s already touting a packet of FOIA demands and lawsuits against the administration.

American Oversight, also created last year, bills itself as “the top Freedom of Information Act litigator investigating the Trump Administration.” It’s chief counsel, John Bies, served eight years in the Obama Justice Department, and its website already lists 19 team members, mostly lawyers. In addition to a flood of FOIA demands, the group helped lead opposition to Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That included filing a lawsuit on behalf of yet another new nonprofit, Fix the Court, demanding all Kavanaugh documents from the Justice Department.


Democratic lawyer Marc Elias in Washington, D.C., March 21, 2016. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

And don’t forget Restore Public Trust, which didn’t launch until Nov. 8, two days after the election, with a mission to “expose corruption and malfeasance at the highest levels of government.” Executive director Caroline Ciccone was a longtime DNC and Obama campaign surrogate, and her advisory board is stocked with former Obama staffers (Brad Woodhouse) and allies of Clinton henchman David Brock (Shripal Sha). The Daily Beast’s headline on launch day: “New Progressive Oversight Group Wants to Make Trump’s Cabinet Miserable.”

These newbies join the usual roster of liberal agitators: Public Citizen, the Center for Public Integrity, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, etc. When it comes to creating damaging narratives, they have the potential to be far more damaging to Team Trump than Congress. If Judicial Watch has proved anything in recent years, it is that the power of FOIA lawsuits (which cannot be easily ignored) can sometimes surpass the power of congressional subpoenas (which can). Judicial Watch lawsuits unearthed key details in the Internal Revenue Service targeting, Benghazi and Hillary Clinton email scandals.

Now imagine that power in the hands of angry Never Trumpers. Judicial Watch is conservative, though it famously also waged battles with George W. Bush’s administration and once teamed up with the Sierra Club to sue for records. These new nonprofits make clear with their own words that transparency is merely a means to the end of destroying the Trump administration. Their FOIA requests to date look like fishing expeditions designed to manufacture scandals, or attempts to overwhelm agencies with information demands. They’ve already proved how effective a strategy of piling ethics complaints on officials can be: It forced the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And it’s easier when the press is on your side.

The groups in question look to be flush with cash; Mr. Trump is a great fundraiser for his adversaries. Not that there are details as to where that cash comes from. (Where’s the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, scourge of “dark money,” when you need her?) Several of the groups are registered with the IRS as nonprofits under Section 501(c) of the tax code, which means they are not required to make public their donors. At least two, Restore Public Trust and Fix the Court, didn’t even bother with the IRS. They are instead “projects” of an outfit called New Venture Fund, a charity managed by the for-profit Arabella Advisors.

“The left has no bigger bogeyman than ‘dark money,’ but it plays the dark-money instrument like Isaac Stern, ” says Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center, a right-leaning watchdog of nonprofits, which tracks groups on its Influencewatch.org site.

Some of us have long believed in the First Amendment, government transparency, and even donor privacy—and will continue to. It would be nice, though, if the liberals now embracing these freedoms in their work to bring down Mr. Trump would show the same consistency.

Write to kim@wsj.com.

Appeared in the December 28, 2018, print edition.

 

A wall is a very good start.

But in reality, actually enforcing the laws which already exist would be a better and cheaper alternative.

Reagan's amnesty laws (aka IRCA 1986) specifically enacted legislation which aimed to target the reasons that people come here illegally: jobs.

A new law which allowed worksite inspections and sanctions against employers who violated laws against hiring illegals were meant to target the issues which drive the majority of illegal immigration.

Unfortunately, businesses complained, and politicians backed down.

Sure would be nice if we enforced our own laws. But if Trump wanted it to happen, the other party would have none of it.

And frankly, I don't believe that the current governing party wants it either.

But those people who believe that we don't need furthering reinforcement of deterrence (wall, fence, etc) really haven't a single clue as to what is happening on our borders and beyond.

 

Well stated, LP.

Unrelated but in the news, on the topic of markets, and the roller coaster action this month, this is a cogent observation:
'I have no idea what the drivers of the current erratic market are right now, but it isn’t the US economy, which continues to perform exceptionally well despite the best efforts of the Fed (interest rates), the Congress (do nothing), the President (short-term tariffs), and the press (constant negativity) to reduce consumer confidence and create a recession.

Hats off to Main Street America, you are who makes America great, not Wall Street and the politicians that they own.'
- - Gibson

 

Another official libtard fail in the heartland of libtardian socialist failure, aka California:



An illegal immigrant from Mexico, wanted for killing a California cop earlier this week, was captured Friday while attempting to flee back across the Southern border, officials said.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga, 33, was busted in Bakersfield, Calif., on suspicion of murder following a massive two-day manhunt for the alleged cop-killer.

"While we absolutely need to stay focused on Officer Singh’s service and sacrifice, we can’t ignore the fact that this could’ve been preventable,” Sheriff Adam Christianson said, noting how Arriaga had several run-ins with police — which couldn’t be reported to ICE on account of California’s sanctuary law.

“Under SB54 in California, based on two arrests for DUI and some other active warrants that this criminal has out there, law enforcement would’ve been prevented — prohibited — from sharing any information with ICE about this criminal gang member,” the sheriff explained.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is not how you protect a community.”

 

TDS

Renders the human unable to formulate original, intelligent thoughts due to mindless rage & near-total obsession.

 

a near perfect description of the president. congrats, you've achieved convergence!

 

Classic meltdown by a liberal with TDS.

 

Try, pls try, to understand that no matter what the smirking asshats attempt to do in terms of deflection, this treade ain’t about me.

If you can’t be original & you have nothing intelligent to say then silence, as opposed to moronic personal attacks, would be the best course of action sparkye.

 

Not really, you don't hear me crying about people picking on me