The Final Pardons

With his presidency coming to a close, President Biden slipped in a few more pardons.  There is retired General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, all the members of Congress who served on the J6 Committee, various DC and US Capitol police, and, of course, three of his siblings and their spouses.  No, nothing to see here, move along.  Unlike his son, who was convicted of crimes and indicted for crimes, these people are not.  What is being pardoned?  The claim will be to prevent Trump from taking revenge on his enemies.  You know, we wouldn't want the president to target political rivals with the power of government, like when President Biden's DOJ went after Trump, Giuliani, Steve Bannon, etc.  This tells us more about the thinking of Biden than the thinking of Trump, because Biden already did what he thinks Trump might do.

Generally, accepting a pardon is equated with admitting guilt.  What exactly would each of these folks be admitting?  For what crimes could Trump's DOJ pursue them?  Milley should have been fired for the Afghanistan debacle, but that isn't criminal.  His backdoor chats with the Chinese during the interregnum were a sore spot with Trump, who called it treason, but is that worthy of pursuing now that tempers have calmed?  Rand Paul has been particularly active against Dr. Fauci, indicating that he lied to Congress and participated in illegal gain-of-function research.  Is he someone Trump would pursue or is Fauci being protected from Senator Paul now that the control has shifted to Republicans?  Now the J6 Committee is an interesting one.  Once the tapes were released in 2023, a different picture of the 'insurrection' was painted.  The Q-Anon Shaman was escorted to the Senate chambers by the Capitol Police!  Was the committee impartial or did it cherry pick the evidence to reveal while hiding mitigating facts?  Did it do anything criminal?  Biden must think there could be something there or why the pardons?  As far as the pardons for his family, that is doubtless for the same shenanigans that surrounded Hunter.

These create a bad precedent.  Pardons should be for specific crimes, not a shield against any future prosecution.  When Jimmy Carter issued a pardon for all the draft dodgers, it was for evading the draft.  It did not pardon them for assault, murder, fraud, etc.  A specific crime was pardoned.  The Constitution states:

 

...he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Providing a pardon without the crime is a case of putting the cart before the horse.

Shoot the Messenger

This video from Tim Pool is troubling.  It does appear that the Biden Administration is going after its enemies with the full force of government, not unlike what Vladimir Putin has done.  Lawfare is being used against opponents, most notably Donald Trump.  The FBI can arrest an actual journalist who reported on January 6th, but has been yet unable to locate the guy who planted pipe bombs.  Interesting.  The government is governing against the people, which is best shown by the open borders - which it repeatedly states are secure - and the rising crime which too many DAs have declined to prosecute.  The Venezuelan illegal immigrant who is on camera beating a NYPD police officer was not only released without bail, but charges have been dropped!  But the FBI have time to arrest a reporter who is critical of the administration.  Something is not right here.

The Biden Administration objects to the news and has opted to shoot the messenger.

Insurrection Hoax?

Recently, House Speaker McCarthy provided access to the thousands of hours of video recording on January 6, 2021.  For the past couple of nights, Tucker Carlson has aired snippets.  Though he started out with the riotous stuff that we have already seen ad nauseam, he then transitioned to some videos that had not been shown.  For example, the Q-Anon Shaman, the fellow who became the face of January 6th, was escorted through the Capitol by the police.  No, not in handcuffs so he could go directly to jail.  The police appear to be giving him a tour of the building and even open a door for him.  Huh.  That's peculiar.  When the shaman finally got to the chamber where plenty of video has been shown, he thanked the police for their participation.  That seems weird.  Of course, it fits with story of Matthew Martin.  Martin was acquitted of all charges for his participation on J6, which included entering the Capitol, because two officers flanking the door made no effort to stop him.  Didn't anyone tell these two officers to close the doors or at least attempt to turn away protesters?  Then there was Ray Epps.  In testimony, he claimed to have left the Capitol but the timestamped video shows him still onsite.  Of note, Epps was on the FBI most wanted list for 1 day.  He still hasn't been arrested or charged.  For a guy that is on tape insisting that protesters must 'go into the Capitol,' it seems odd that he hasn't been charged.  Then we have the man who actively dragged protesters into the Capitol building.  Officer Sitnick, who was beaten to death by protesters, is shown walking about in the Capitol a half hour after his supposed beating.  Huh.  How come none of this was addressed by the J6 Select Committee?    It's almost as if that was a show trial that only wanted to paint a particular narrative, not find the truth of what happened.

Much of this footage was kept hidden for the last 26 months because it contradicts the established narrative.  None of this excuses those who clearly rioted that day.  However, the idea that a bunch of unarmed protesters came close to overthrowing the government is ludicrous.  CNN reported the far deadlier and more destructive events in Minneapolis as a 'mostly peaceful protest.'

The Curious Case of Ray Epps

On January 5, 2021, Ray Epps was filmed while calling for Trump supporters to enter the Capitol on the following day.  Onlookers accused him of being a "Fed!"  Considering the events of the following day, he looks like someone to be picked up for incitement.  But wait, there's more.

The following day, he is again on film.  This time, prior to Trump's speech, he is announcing that everyone must march on the Capitol after the speech and points the direction to the Capitol.  Hmm, really boosting for this march.  But wait, there's more.

After the speech and at the outermost barrier to the Capitol, Ray is on film as a mob hovers.  He is spotted whispering in the ear of a man.  Seconds later, that very man makes the first breech of the Capitol perimeter.  He is later seen among the crowd that clashed fiercely with the police at the Capitol steps.

Considering all this, it is no surprise that he was pictured on the FBI most-wanted, an obvious organizer and/or cheerleader for the attack.  Despite being identified relatively quickly, he was not arrested.  The day after Revolver.news did a report on Epps, his picture was removed from the FBI most-wanted.  What is going on?

Some suggest that he was indeed a federal plant.  That sounds like conspiracy stuff.  However, when you consider how many FBI agents were involved in the would-be kidnapping of Governor Whitmer of Michigan, it seems less far-fetched.  Another possibility is that the Ray Epps clips are out of context.  A fuller viewing might reveal something entirely different, or even opposite, of what these clips show.  Such misleading edits led to the 'Fine People Hoax' and the 'drink bleach hoax' for Trump.  What's to say that some Trump supporter didn't do the same to Ray Epps?

That Epps was removed from the wanted list and Attorney General Garland refused to offer any explanation to Congress is curious.  He could say that they looked into Mr. Epps and cleared him of wrongdoing.  Nope.  Were there federal agents inciting the crowd on January 6?  Not going to comment on that.  Oh.  The fact that a straight denial was not offered is troublesome.

Scott Adams has recently stated that "Innocent until proven guilty" only applies to individuals.  The government should be held to the opposite standard: guilty until proven innocent.  The government needs to demonstrate its innocence via transparency.  Failure to be transparent should be held as evidence of corruption.  I like that standard.