Think the Paul Manafort persecution is OK because “He’s a sleaze?” Think the Roger Stone prosecution is OK because not only is he a sleaze, but he’s also providing dirt on Donald Trump? What if it happens to you? What if you come to the wrong person’s attention by supporting the “wrong” candidate? Do you Bernie supporters have any doubt that a President Hillary Clinton would hesitate to use the full force of the law to come after you?

Earlier, I kicked out a piece regarding the Federal sentencing of Paul Manafort and how the Attorney General for the State of New York’s Manhattan Office, not being satisfied with that Federal Pound Of Flesh, has decided to go ahead and charge Manafort with 11 (or more) felony charges at the state level. His openly stated purpose, to undercut the possibility of a Presidential Pardon.

It’s even more insidious than that and I can’t believe I walked right by it. This time last year, the New York Times almost gleefully reported that the leftist State Attorney General, in a move blatantly targeting President Trump and those currently supporting him and much more frightening, those might support him in the future, proposed to undermine any attempt at Presidential Pardons for Trump supporters. From the article,

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York is moving to change New York state law so that he and other local prosecutors would have the power to bring criminal charges against aides to President Trump who have been pardoned, according to a letter Mr. Schneiderman sent to the governor and state lawmakers on Wednesday.

That was last year. Well, guess what? It’s back. From the New York Law Journal,

Legislation in New York to close the double jeopardy “loophole,” which bars state prosecutors from bringing similar charges against individuals pardoned of federal charges by the president of the United States, was reintroduced in the Legislature this week.

Donald J. Trump is driving the leftists nuts. His ability to quickly grasp and make use of disparate levers of power and communication, from Twitter to Open Air Rallies, has them scrambling to shut off every avenue the President uses to maintain contact with and keep, the support of his base.

Whether it’s shadow banning on twitter or Facebook, boycotts of companies doing business with ICE and now, using a state legislature to nullify Presidential Powers clearly enumerated in the Constitution, the leftists are going all out to, in the (paraphrased) words of “disintelligensia,” a commenter in one of my articles, make Trump’s 2020 campaign radioactive to anyone from Campaign Manager, to Door Knocker.

After seeing what’s happened to Manafort & Stone (both admittedly sleazy) along with the White Knight, Lieutenant General Flynn, who in his right mind would want to risk imprisonment on Federal charges, financial ruin and even if pardoned, more charges at the state level, just for being associated with a conservative candidate?

This is obviously a political prosecution. The DOJ/FBI had previously investigated these charges and found them wanting. The only reason Mueller reopened them, was in hopes of pressuring Manafort to dime out Trump…a political prosecution if I’ve ever seen one.

This should bother each and every one of us, whether you support Trump or not. Where does this end? Since when does our system allow the appointment of a special prosecutor, with little or no oversight and an unlimited access to resources, including a bottomless piggy bank to investigate someONE until he finds a crime? We’ve seen this rodeo before, shortly after the Russian Revolution.

Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.

—Lavrentiy Beria, Deputy to Josef Djugishvili…AKA, Stalin

Mike Ford is a retired Infantry Officer who writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor10394583

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