How to comprehend the enormous consequences of the sanctioned FBI raid on the Mar-a-Lago Florida home of the previous President Donald Trump? Should no meaningful timeline exist concerning the surroundings of this simple legal action, one could quietly disregard what took place in Florida. Looking at those events as an isolated incident might be convenient for anyone with a vested interest in reaping the gains of the raid, whilst minimizing the consequence regarding the sequence of events leading up to it. However, it does not guarantee blind abeyance, a submissive acceptance of what took place, and in particular the potential findings of the raid’s haul. But, was this side-consequence actually part of an intended result from the instigators of the raid, and surely that goes beyond the acting head of the Justice Department and FBI who authorized the action. Who and what is behind this calculated gamble to shut down a highly popular candidate for the next president of the United States of America?
Earlier Allegations Against Trump
First, let’s look at the timeline of events. The Special Counsel investigation was an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials. The investigation was conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller from May 2017 to March 2019. It was also called the Russia investigation, the Mueller probe, and the Mueller investigation. Mueller investigation culminated with the Mueller report, which concluded that though the Trump campaign welcomed Russian interference and expected to benefit from it, there was no evidence to bring any conspiracy charges against Trump or his associates. The report did not reach a conclusion about possible obstruction of justice of Trump, citing a Justice Department guideline that prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
The investigation was officially concluded on March 22, 2019. The investigation “identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign”, and determined that the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally” from Russian hacking efforts. However, ultimately “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
The FBI became embroiled in an investigation with clear and concise political consequences. The timing of the investigation coincided with America’s top electoral campaign, which determines who precisely would run the country in the 2016 election.
Returning to the timeline factor, it would appear that the current American government is in the middle of a desperate struggle to maintain full control of both the Senate and Congress. The Democratic Party faces an uphill battle to regain the trust of its electorate for the coming mid-term primaries late 2022. The chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, an ambiguous approach to the Iranian threat, indecisive reactions to both China and Russia’s military ambitions – are just a few of its foreign policy perceived weaknesses. On the domestic front, street violence, border problems, financial issues – are among other factors that can negatively affect the primaries result. Some might argue that above the fore-mentioned issues, the growing public perception that President Biden is medically unfit for his august role looms high on the list of left wing concerns.
None of the above challenges facing the Democrats would be collectively such a threat if it weren’t for the prospect of facing a Republican presidential candidate with proven polling success. Donald Trump has been the subject of continuous politically inspired attempts to eliminate his presence from not just the political arena, but from the public eye where his influence marks a considerable difference on the political stage. Accordingly, it would be hard not to make any connection between legal attempts to undermine Trump back in the Presidential race of 2016, and that currently taking place now prior to the primaries of late 2022.
Conspiracy Of Planted Evidence
What damage could be caused? Aside from the general assumption that the FBI would not conduct such a raid unless it has an intention to follow it through with a conviction, the question arises as to what evidence it has in mind to bring him to justice? If the previous attempts by a justice department with political consequences at stake had proved a success in 2017, public acceptance of the FBI might have been beyond reproach. However, that was not the case, and sadly public perception of an entity that should be given full trust and support by all Americans, has been considerable weakened.
It is not beyond a shadow of doubt that elements of the FBI would not conveniently plant incriminating evidence against Trump. Who is there to say otherwise? This brings us to the thorny question of how to deal with Trump’s most loyal supporters. Once more, to take this one step forward, we need to compare the government’s anticipated opposition to bringing Trump down, with events on our timeline.
Undermining Trump’s Supporter Base
Simultaneously with attempts to bring down the one person that could successfully challenge President Biden, it would be of obvious importance to also undermine his most loyal and vocal supporter base. The case against the alleged illegal attempt to take control of the House of Congress is very much alive. It has understandable non-partisan support from any law-abiding citizen that takes any undemocratic action to undermine the government as being a threat to one and all in America. From such a platform, it is a short hurdle to connect lawless followers of Trump, with the man himself. In reality, it seriously weakens any movement aimed at gaining meaningful support against the FBI raid on Donald Trump.
Whilst the public trial against his alleged lawless followers has an impact on the electorate is in full swing, it places non-participants of the House of Congress incident, willing to support Trump, in a difficult position. They too can be compared and labeled as rioters. Furthermore, Trump supporters associated with the FBI raid could be targeted themselves as being part of an illegal movement associated with a master criminal backed by hooligans.
Returning to the earlier question of possible intent to stir up vocal resistance to this latest attempt to delegitimize Trump, is it beyond the realms of logic that this is exactly what is hoped for? History is full of examples of popular leaders being taking out of the equation, together with their supporters. It is relatively easy to initiate martial law on the weakest of pretexts. In this case, the very timing of the FBI action raises considerable questions. Accordingly, following the next steps of Trump Gate fiasco could be quite revealing.
