“The lady doth protest too much, methinks…”

That famous line from Hamlet has been spun to apply to President Trump many times over the last two years. The insinuation obviously being that if he were innocent, he wouldn’t proclaim his innocence and bemoan Robert Mueller’s investigation so much.

That logic is fairly shallow.

When largely unaccountable forces are feeding a narrative that is then pushed uncritically by the media despite continued evidence to the contrary, it’s not necessarily prudent for someone in political office to sit quietly and just take their lumps. We saw that with President George W. Bush, who’s penchant for letting the opposition bloody his nose eventually led to the downfall of his Presidency in the minds of Americans. He was routinely described as “the worst President ever” and derided as a dolt.

Would that have changed had he actually took the initiative to respond to those conspiring against him? My supposition would be yes, it would of helped. Pushing back is a natural want and one that neither shows guilt nor innocence. The idea that someone being railroaded is guilty unless they sit back and take the punches while asking for another makes little sense.

Yet, that’s the standard that’s been set by the mainstream media, Democrats, and anti-Trump wards alike.

Here’s Sen. Tim Kaine (D) making that very case just two months ago to TMZ…

Kaine says Trump’s clearly nervous about something, and he’s not doing a very good job at keeping his poker face intact under pressure from the Special Counsel’s office.

More importantly … he says if Trump truly isn’t guilty of wrongdoing, why the big show? Sounds like a classic case of “If the tweet fits” … according to Tim, anyway.

Get that? If you protest an investigation, you are clearly showing nervousness and acting guilty.

We’ve heard all forms of the claim that if the President has nothing to hide, he shouldn’t oppose Mueller’s investigation. That’s even been repeated many times here at Redstate.

Well, the tables are now beginning to turn and it’s time to see if they’ll live by the standard they’ve set. 

Due to preemptive leaks (no doubt attempting to soften the blow via friendly media outlets), we have evidence showing that the FBI and Obama administration officials initially lied about spying on the Trump campaign. The goalposts have moved so far that it’s hard to keep up, but we are only a year removed from James Clapper asserting on national TV that there was zero surveillance and if there was, he’d of known about it. Media members have predictably followed suit, saying that Trump is deluded in conspiracy theories and that the FBI never would of done such a thing.

That was then, this is now. Thanks to Rep. Devin Nunes continuing to dig despite the nakedly partisan protestations of Democrats and the #NeverTrump wing, we know the Obama administration not only collected documents, emails, phone calls, and garnered FISA warrants, but they also used an informant to infiltrate parts of the campaign before the election. How deep this goes is yet to be seen, but that’s exactly why an investigation is needed.

Donald Trump called for one and the DOJ immediately handed it over to the IG Horowitz, who was already working on a report on FISA abuse. You’d think this would be universally praised as a move toward transparency and justice. When something is suspicious, investigations are the right move or at least that’s what we’ve been told for the last two years of the Trump-Russia farce by those vehemently in support of Robert Mueller’s escapade.

Not so fast says John Brennan. It’s time to move the goalposts again. Investigations are now dangerous to our democracy.

Senator McConnell & Speaker Ryan: If Mr. Trump continues along this disastrous path, you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to our democracy. You do a great disservice to our Nation & the Republican Party if you continue to enable Mr. Trump’s self-serving actions. https://t.co/uAhgL6wfIC

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) May 20, 2018

This thought is being echoed throughout the chamber this morning.

The president's statement indicating that he will order the Justice Department to investigate the FBI could not be more disturbing and reiterates his deep contempt for the rule of law.

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) May 21, 2018

And here I thought investigations were good if you had nothing to hide? Silly me.

One might even say that Brennan’s recent rash of twitter use makes him look guilty. Is he afraid they’ll actually find something that diminishes trust in the FBI, DOJ, and former Obama administration? If there’s nothing to be found, what possible harm could come from the Inspector General probing his and other’s actions?

The truth is that there was a cover up here. It’s not even debatable at this point.

https://twitter.com/LagerChelsea/status/998390627019776000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj-3930%2F2018%2F05%2F21%2Fso-defensive-sean-davis-points-out-obama-lackeys-lied-either-way-about-spying-triggers-former-cia-agent%2F

Will we see those who criticized Trump for opposing the Mueller investigation be consistent and support this newest investigation, especially given the disturbing revelations of the past week? Of course we won’t.

The new hotness out of the #NeverTrump wing? That the President is just wasting his time and is actually hurting the country by pursing this.

And that’s the thing — if it happened, there is no way the President is going to get a report back admitting it. If it did not happen, well it is not like his supporters will believe it. They will, instead, be convinced it is all a lie to protect the bureaucracy.

The only thing that will happen here is a further erosion of public trust in institutions. A “yes” to his question of spying for politics will completely undermine the organizations. A “no” will too because few of the President’s supporters will believe it.

There are no winners here, except that the President will have a new grievance for his base to feed off of headed into the midterms and 2020. Oh…

There’s so much irony there that I’m having to hold back laughter. We’ve been told by these very same people for over a year that the Mueller investigation is absolutely necessary and that it trumps all concerns about the damage it is doing to the country, the ability to govern, and public trust.

Now, all of the sudden, it’s time to forgo investigations into the Obama administration’s dealings, despite all the evidence that’s coming out showing possible impropriety, because it might hurt faith in our institutions. How very, very convenient.

Meanwhile, more continues to come to light, such as this being revealed this morning.

A text from an FBI agent in 2016 says “the White House is running this”, referring to the opening of the Trump investigation, and today’s press corps pays it no attention. It’s amazing the press looks the other way. And they wonder why people think they’re biased. https://t.co/A9kZ6v1cws

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 21, 2018

The cover up is crumbling around those who assured us nothing went on in these agencies. Instead of admitting they were wrong, they just double down. The goalposts have been moved so far at this point that you can’t see them from the stands anymore. The same people who said there was no surveillance now want to claim intellectual authority to lecture us on the fact that it was all on the up and up.

Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. A person doesn’t get to lie, obfuscate, and push false narratives for over a year and then turn around and explain away evidence that shows they lied, obfuscated, and pushed false narratives for a year. Their credibility is gone.

They also don’t get to deride all opposition to Robert Mueller’s sacrosanct probe as fear and guilt while at the same time insisting that an investigation into surveillance of the Trump campaign is bad for the country and shouldn’t occur.

Pandora’s box is already open. The standard is already set. Those most likely to be caught up in the IG’s newest venture, as well as those who oppose it for partisan reasons, aren’t allowed to change the rules at this point. Sorry.