{"id":1597522,"date":"2022-08-09T17:35:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T21:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1597522"},"modified":"2022-08-09T17:36:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T21:36:01","slug":"obamas-attorney-general-in-2016-threatening-to-jail-political-opponents-is-an-abuse-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obamas-attorney-general-in-2016-threatening-to-jail-political-opponents-is-an-abuse-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama\u2019s Attorney General In 2016: \u2018Threatening To Jail Political Opponents\u2019 Is An \u2018Abuse Of Power\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fobamas-attorney-general-in-2016-threatening-to-jail-political-opponents-is-an-abuse-of-power%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1597522&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Barack Obama\u2019s first-term Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the jailing of political opponents in 2016, six years before the FBI conducted a raid on former President Donald Trump\u2019s Florida residence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the USA we do not threaten to jail political opponents,\u201d Holder <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricHolder\/status\/785319092722868224?s=20&#038;t=IkKWP_3sInN4Jh7tHGWuOw\">wrote<\/a> on Twitter. \u201c[Donald Trump said he would. He is promising to abuse the power of the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricHolder\/status\/785319092722868224?s=20&#038;t=IkKWP_3sInN4Jh7tHGWuOw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"797\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ericholdertweet.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-277292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ericholdertweet.jpg 797w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ericholdertweet-300x142.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ericholdertweet-768x363-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The post was published on the evening of the second 2016 presidential debate, wherein Trump famously quipped in the televised townhall Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton would be in prison if he were president. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, it\u2019s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,\u201d Clinton said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you\u2019d be in jail,\u201d Trump quickly responded, triggering an eruption of cheers in what is supposed to be a muted auditorium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe remind the audience to please not talk out loud, please do not applaud,\u201d pled debate moderator Anderson Cooper. <\/p>\n<p>At the time, Clinton faced scrutiny for mishandling classified information from her time as secretary of state. While Trump was president, however, he never criminally pursued his 2016 opponent who has flirted with a third presidential run ever since the election. <\/p>\n<p>On Twitter, Trump\u2019s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo highlighted the double standard. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cExecuting a warrant against ex-[president of the United States] is dangerous. The apparent political weaponization of DOJ\/FBI is shameful,\u201d Pompeo <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikepompeo\/status\/1556831532735729664?s=20&#038;t=bUOQF5W0uke_AcQ9AeZm6A\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cI served on Benghazi [Committee] where we proved Hillar possessed classified info. We didn\u2019t raid her home.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>FBI agents ostensibly raided Trump\u2019s Florida home at Mar-a-Lago Wednesday over potential violations of the Presidential Records Act. The 1978 law mandates all presidential records be preserved and maintained by the National Archives. Prosecutions under the 44-year-old law, however, are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/trump-mar-a-lago-raid-2024-ballot\">rare<\/a>, and the FBI reportedly confiscated items such as napkins and dinner menus. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<p>Prosecution of Trump, however, has been a top item on the Democrats\u2019 policy agenda since his first presidential run in 2016. After two impeachments failed to secure a conviction, the FBI appears to be exploiting the Presidential Records Act as the agency\u2019s latest effort to thwart Trump\u2019s ambitions for a second term.<\/p>\n<p>Neither the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Senate Democrat Majority Leader Chuck Schumer immediately responded to The Federalist\u2019s inquiries over whether they agree with Holder\u2019s 2016 statement. Schumer twice <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atrupar\/status\/1556819638402572288?s=20&#038;t=yHy3jZe2a6cjIhT9D-xaeA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to comment on the raid during an MSNBC interview Monday night. <\/p>\n<p>Last week, Holder, who was the first sitting attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress over refusal to comply with an oversight investigation, began to preview a Trump indictment under the subtext of the Jan. 6 Committee. The Justice Department is conducting its own investigation of Jan. 6 running parallel to House proceedings on the Select panel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy guess is that by the end of this process, you\u2019re going to see indictments involving high-level people in the White House,\u201d Holder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.siriusxm.com\/clips\/clip\/0469a9b1-fd7d-4257-ab28-f76acc8fa2aa\/a0c80ca1-8574-4ecc-a132-4540a0b23bd8\">said<\/a> on SiriusXM radio. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see indictments against people outside the White House who were advising them with regard to the attempt to steal the election, and I think ultimately you\u2019re probably going to see that the president, former president of the United States indicted as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former President Barack Obama\u2019s first-term Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the jailing of political opponents in 2016, six years before the FBI conducted a raid on former President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":1597727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1597522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1597522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1597727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1597522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1597522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1597522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}