Posted on 12/26/2017 9:32:39 PM PST by Kaslin
There are many resolutions the federal government should be making for the New Year; with cutting spending at or near the very top of the list. With Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress (for the time being at least), resolutions this year actually could amount to more than just empty words on a quickly-forgotten list. There is one resolution, in fact, that would be easy to implement, would require no help from any Democrat or slippery Republican in the Senate, and that would signal to the country that President Trump truly intends to reinvigorate the sense of justice at the Department of Justice.
Trump should immediately direct Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt the lengthy and unfair prosecution of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. The nearly four-year old prosecution of Bundy, his sons, and a number of their many supporters, has been more than a prosecution. It has been a crusade; begun under former Attorney General Eric Holder in 2014, continued all this past year by an interim career prosecutor in Las Vegas, and abetted by a federal judge appointed by Obama and whose animus toward Bundy is palpable.
The dispute between Bundy and the federal government goes back decades; rooted in the long-standing effort by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to force the cattle rancher to pay Uncle Sam more than $1 million in disputed “grazing fees.”So intense has been the desire by BLM to squeeze money out of Bundy, that the agency was able to obtain a court order to seize his cattle (and in so doing, strangle Bundy’s livelihood). Bundy, a Mormon rancher whose land has been in his family for generations, still refused to pay the disputed “fees.”
Bundy’s intransigence led BLM agents in the spring of 2014 to start rounding up Bundy’s cattle, and sending heavily armed agents to his ranch to enforce its actions. To further justify its extreme actions against the Bundy family, BLM (part of the Department of the Interior) asserted – with a straight face – that such action was justified because the grazing bovines threatened the habitat of the “endangered” desert tortoise. The ridiculous and heavy-handed attack on the Bundy clan prompted a symbolic (but no less real and dangerous) “range war” between federal agents and pro-Bundy “Sagebrush Rebels” who rushed to his support and to defend against the BLM power grab.
Bundy’s intransigence led BLM agents in the spring of 2014 to start rounding up Bundy’s cattle, and sending heavily armed agents to his ranch to enforce its actions. To further justify its extreme actions against the Bundy family, BLM (part of the Department of the Interior) asserted – with a straight face – that such action was justified because the grazing bovines threatened the habitat of the “endangered” desert tortoise. The ridiculous and heavy-handed attack on the Bundy clan prompted a symbolic (but no less real and dangerous) “range war” between federal agents and pro-Bundy “Sagebrush Rebels” who rushed to his support and to defend against the BLM power grab.
The stand-off, which was heavily covered by the media as it unfolded over several days, eventually de-escalated with nary a shot being fired. Despite the peaceful resolution of the confrontation, and apparently nursing a bruised ego because its agents “backed down,” almost two years later Cliven Bundy, two of his sons, and numerous other supporters were indicted by a federal grand jury. Bundy was arrested, and has been held in jail ever since because the U.S. Attorney’s office in Nevada, backed by Judge Gloria Navarro, asserts without any evidence that he poses a flight risk and is a “danger” to the community.
Bundy’s intransigence led BLM agents in the spring of 2014 to start rounding up Bundy’s cattle, and sending heavily armed agents to his ranch to enforce its actions. To further justify its extreme actions against the Bundy family, BLM (part of the Department of the Interior) asserted – with a straight face – that such action was justified because the grazing bovines threatened the habitat of the “endangered” desert tortoise. The ridiculous and heavy-handed attack on the Bundy clan prompted a symbolic (but no less real and dangerous) “range war” between federal agents and pro-Bundy “Sagebrush Rebels” who rushed to his support and to defend against the BLM power grab.
The stand-off, which was heavily covered by the media as it unfolded over several days, eventually de-escalated with nary a shot being fired. Despite the peaceful resolution of the confrontation, and apparently nursing a bruised ego because its agents “backed down,” almost two years later Cliven Bundy, two of his sons, and numerous other supporters were indicted by a federal grand jury. Bundy was arrested, and has been held in jail ever since because the U.S. Attorney’s office in Nevada, backed by Judge Gloria Navarro, asserts without any evidence that he poses a flight risk and is a “danger” to the community.
It appears that if justice is to be had, it falls to the President to mete it out; as he did in another politically-motivated prosecution this year – that of former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Hopefully, the same Donald Trump who exhibited the backbone to take on the Justice Department and pardon Arpaio, will quickly do the same with regard to the Bundy family and its supporters.
Nah, that would just give his enemies ammunition for obstruction of justice charges.
Trump should drop Sessions.
No. thanks, Bob. The optics are bad.
He should drop YOU. So sick of you effing Sessions bashers. Go into law, win a Senate seat, and get chosen by a President to be the nation’s top cop then OK
“He should drop YOU. So sick of you effing Sessions bashers. Go into law, win a Senate seat, and get chosen by a President to be the nation’s top cop then OK”
I find it fascinating that you stand by Sessions when there is absolutely no objective evidence that he’s done a f*cking thing of any consequence since his confirmation except recuse himself needlessly (and get his panties all twisted up over seizing citizens property without a legal cause to do so), and then go to sleep on our dime.
He may have been, at one time, someone with some fire in his belly, but no longer. He should have been left to fester in the Senate where he would have been unable to wreak havoc on the President.
He’s simply unworthy of the position Trump has mistakenly given him.
What a crappy article.
No mention of Water Rights. As if Bundy were just some loon.
You don’t know what the Hell Sessions is doing.
Fedgov has already wasted millions on two trials. They could easily back off now, saying the odds of conviction are not worth the price of further prosecution.
A business decision.
You're quite right, but my feeling is that he isn't doing anything, at least nothing that counts for anything. Plus his stint in the Congressional hearing showed me a meaching little old man who doesn't know which way is up. Defend him if you want, and I will be the first to apologize if I'm wrong, I have no confidence in him based on what I've seen, and I will bet he's gone just as soon as the Mueller fiasco finally comes to an end.
Well so far Sessions has stupidly recused himself from the Russian collusion fiasco allowing Mueller to be appointed to persecute Trump endlessly and praised the efforts of a federal prosecutor who has been trying to railroad the Bundy’s to prison. A prosecutor now proven guilty of three or more incidents of prosecutorial misconduct.
So on balance Jeffie is shaping up as an epic fail!
I believe this should be called the “Dirtbag Harry Reid” prosecution.
One would have to find Sessions first.
He is AWOL.
“You don’t know what the Hell Sessions is doing.”
And neither do you, so while you have your head up Sessions butt, the rest of us have the right to complain about the very obvious lack of accomplishments that A.G. Sessions can claim.
For now, Sessions appears to be the weakest A.G. ever appointed.
and then fall on your butt.
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