hi I'm Mike Ditka your size law enforcement that's the
focus of tonight's angle a lot of us grew up to have a romanticized view of
federal prosecutors and law enforcement they were all like Eliot Ness and The
Untouchables truth justice and the American Way it was about locking up the
bad guys and protecting the rest of us and there are many dedicated men and
women across the country serving as assistant US attorneys who are doing
just that but sadly we've also seen egregious
examples in recent years of prosecutions of prominent figures that seem to have
been politically motivated prosecutions that resulted in huge miscarriages of
justice one such case was that of conservative filmmaker author an old
college friend Dinesh D'Souza who was pardoned today by President Trump for a
conviction stemming from a $20,000 bundled campaign contribution to 2012
Senate campaign of friend Wendy long Obama's US Attorney Preet Bharara went
for broke against D'Souza in a case that could have been easily disposed of with
a fine and should have been this is D'Souza whom I spoke with
exclusively on radio today with regard to Preet Bharara you know I see him as
along with Eric Holder as sort of part of this Obama team of goons as he will
that was unleashed to get me in retaliation for the movie I made about
Obama and I think Ferrara's ambition was that this would he would prove that by
getting a fellow Indian he would kind of endear himself to the Obama team it was
a move of ambition as I understand it but you know this this would have to
file this into the Karma is a department we Ferrara got fired by Trump and I got
pardoned well D'Souza was sentenced to eight
months at a community confinement center in five years of probation and community
service a thirty thousand dollar fine and
counseling he called it a failed attempt at re-education when Republican members
of Congress who suspected political motivations pushed for the release of
D'Souza's FBI file the department balked when they finally turned over the file
at least made access to the file they found out that his political affiliation
and were critical of Obama had indeed been referenced from the FBI reports
seen by a Republican member of Congress it said the following D'Souza is likely
an ultra conservative right-wing author and creator of a documentary critical of
the Obama administration because of D'Souza's purported conservative beliefs
it is likely that D'Souza orchestrated the excess contributions the agents name
who wrote the above description was redacted the expenditure then authorized
for a case concerning $20,000 with the campaign contributions $100,000 what my
case shows in miniature is the way that Obama and Hillary to have gangster eyes
the u.s. politics there's a new ton that's come in American politics and and
Trump is I think very well aware of it in some ways the product of it it's not
just D'Souza who the former Obama Justice Department targeted remember
what happened to Virginia's Republican Governor Bob McDonnell who many thought
could have been a future presidential candidate he was prosecuted on
corruption charges by US Attorney Dana buente who was appointed by the Obama
administration MacDonald's conviction was eventually overturned by a unanimous
Supreme Court it's worth noting that Brent a was also colleagues with Jim
Comey and has been interviewed by the special counsel Bob Muller on what call
me relayed to him about his meeting with Trump
Bente is now serving as the general counsel of the FBI and then there's
former Democrat governor from Illinois rod Blagojevich who was sentenced to 14
years in prison on federal bribery charges despite the fact that he never
took a bribe the prosecutor in the case on
other Jim Comey friend Patrick Fitzgerald blah goes wife patty recently
appeared here on the angle you know ten years ago these same people call me
Fitzgerald Muller used these out-of-control
prosecutors and FBI agents came after my husband with their unchecked power to
undo an election by the people and these are politically motivated opportunists
who use their offices for their own personal enrichment to further their
careers and remember the decision to investigate the leaking of CIA agent
Valerie Plame's name in 2003 Bush White House official Scooter Libby was
convicted in that case not for leaking but for lying to investigators Trump
recently pardoned him something George W Bush should have done long before
leaving office do you remember who decided to appoint the special counsel
and the plain Libby case then Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey whom did call
me choose a special counsel his old chum Patrick Fitzgerald it's also incestuous
now Fitzgerald is a wealthy partner at my old law firm Skadden Arps and is
representing whom Jim Comey in his dealings with Special Counsel Bob Muller
that brings us to today or many of these same figures who have been celebrated by
media elites are back at work using their position and their pedigree and an
ongoing effort to purge the country of President Donald J Trump
what started as concerns about Russian collusion has now morphed into an
ever-changing obstruction of justice narrative all because Trump fired
someone who he was constitutionally permitted to fire for any reason in
federal investigations the government has limitless budgets subpoena power and
an army of prosecutors on its side let's not forget so targets should not be
chosen or eliminated on the basis of their political views nor because
they're considered big fish whose prosecutions could pay big time
and big career dividends down the road this is neither just nor enforcement of
the law what it is is it's big-game hunting with a political preference and
that's the angle joining us now for reaction civil rights attorney and
California RNC committee woman army Dylan and former Clinton advisor Richard
Goodstein Richard yes ma'am so a couple things first your friend Dinesh D'Souza
was shunned even by CPAC for mocking the parklands students he doesn't have
entirely clean hands in fact about what we're talking about
keep it focus we have limited time focus on the prosecution what we found in that
FBI file which they did not want to release references to his political
viewpoint why why are they referencing his body of work why are they
referencing his political viewpoints if he was someone who was just oh we have
to throw the book at him for $20,000 in the campaign that was down 25 points so
it was it was a knowing violation that was why it was criminal when with Trump
says well he could deal with a fine no actually you don't deal with criminal
campaign finance violations by just a fine you actually again it was no
intentional he pled to the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing he even
deceived the candidate about it right and he frankly goaded the trial judge
who was a former staffer to a Republican senator and tried to basically any guy
could have gotten two years and he got five months of probation yeah that tab
Turner Arkansas trial lawyer he was reimbursed he reimbursed donors nine
eight thousand dollars to John Edwards 2004 campaign he had a $9,500 civil fine
Pierce O'Donnell Harry Whitmore we have a whole list of people similar
situations where there were straw donors again $20,000 very small amount
shouldn't have done it but to me harm me this looks and looked at the time he'd
come out with that movie about Hillary Clinton Obama because this was someone
who was highly effective in a world dominated by the left namely filmmaking
right absolutely Laura I don't know if there's any other conclusion you laid it
out well in your about why it's clear that information
was hidden he was treated very differently based on his political
viewpoint there's also the additional factor that denise has mentioned that
the prosecutor in question Preet Bharara has been known and was known at the time
for going after high-profile Indian American targets he's you know prominent
in the Indian American community himself and you know it's important to remember
that it's not the department of you know convict whoever you can to help your
friends it's the Department of Justice and prosecutors are supposed to exercise
their discretion and that discretion is exercised everyday in not bringing
convictions like this and one of the key facts here is the reason that he had to
plead guilty was he was being threatened by the prosecutor with an additional
five-year sentence for obstruction of justice on top of the two years which is
the penalty for the fairly penny-ante offense of less than 25 could they turn
the screws on people every time and I'm thinking as the former as a former
criminal defense attorney I you know that's kind of in my blood and I we need
prosecutors and they serve an incredibly important purpose and there are lots of
dedicated people out there this case was ridiculous from the beginning it should
not have been handled this way I want to play some some a montage here for media
figures today and I'm Richard I want you to react to this what they said Donald
Trump could be signaling with this pardon let's watch pardoning him now is
sort of a brazen act that sends a message that he's going to intervene and
issue pardons basically on his own win president Trump's seemingly passing out
pardons to heroes of the far-right almost as eagerly as Oprah once gifted
Pontiacs to suburban moms for one step closer to being a third world power
this is destroying the whole idea of independent justice it is hard to think
of someone more undeserving of apartment Annette D'Souza Richard you talking
about you talked about Blagojevich who frankly ended up in jail because he had
the appointment power he could have appointed anybody to the Senate but he
did it corruptly that's what that was that was dismissed well but I'm saying I
was overturned well but I'm saying he used his power in a way you we all heard
the tapes right about how he was doing like a a Mafia figure right the fact of
the matter is Donald Trump has unfettered pardon power but he can't use
it corruptly you may disagree with these characterizations about what people said
about sending signals to Roger stone to Paul Manafort
and you know and and the and Michael Cohen but all the crimes obstruction
lying etc campaign finance you go list by list that's exactly what that cast of
characters looks like they're gonna do you agree that article 2 section 2
Clause 1 is absolute you could hire Comey but he can't do it for corrupt
reasons he could wait but you're saying the pardoning of Dinesh D'Souza could be
tantamount to obstruction of justice if you look at all the people how hardened
and the people he talked about pardoning today every single one of those crime
about markridge how about your old guy Quentin with Mark Richt and you know
what it from just there was no pardon in the Clinton the first two years it is an
absolute power there's every edge he traded illegally with Ayatollah
Khomeini's around 53 Americans were hostage there in 1979 he did deals with
Gaddafi's Libya against US law the list goes on and on
that was a hideous hideous pardon with political ties as well because a big his
wife is a big campaign donor I think was I think we got the we had the Puerto
Rican terrorist group pardoned on the part of Obama so look I criticize these
things but the idea her mate that this is a big signal to people I think Donald
Trump sees this as an injustice I think he Martin Martha Stewart is a big
liberal the idea that like pardoning Martha Stewart would send him it Martha
Stewart was again Jim Comey was the Southern District of New York US
Attorney at the time she was a big fish get for call me that was a huge feather
in his cap that was another ridiculous prosecution army right absolutely Laura
what he's looking at right now is partying a couple of Democrats you
mentioned Blagojevich who actually didn't there's no crime proven there and
Martha Stewart you know when you can't get them on a substantive offense which
is what happened in the Martha Stewart case you try to get them on this process
crime it would be a it would absolutely be
just for him to pardon her and others who've been unjustly witch hunted for
the purposes of their own careers nobody today can doubt that James Comey and
also Patrick Fitzgerald who's a two-timer there with the Scooter Libby
situation as well acted in their own self-interest out in the interest of the
country or certainly in the interest of justice they should not be allowed to
abuse their positions to do this and I and I think other democratic and other
Americans would applaud the president for writing those wrongs and I hope he
does that alright guys thanks so much I said Connor had black also another
outrageous prosecution by Patrick Fitzgerald have you noticed how the
media are suddenly pushing Jim Comey's version of events in the Russia probe we
may have found the reason for this suspicious onslaught we're going to
discuss it next with Ari Fleischer and solve Eisenberg
you
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