{"id":1609132,"date":"2022-08-16T16:03:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T20:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1609132"},"modified":"2022-08-16T16:03:45","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T20:03:45","slug":"weaponizing-federal-agencies-and-the-danger-of-unchecked-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/weaponizing-federal-agencies-and-the-danger-of-unchecked-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Weaponizing Federal Agencies And The Danger Of Unchecked Government"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fweaponizing-federal-agencies-and-the-danger-of-unchecked-government%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=1609132&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>Just about everyone in the United States\u2014and maybe most of the Western World\u2014 has heard about the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/the-day-the-fbi-raided-donald-trump\">raid on former President Trump\u2019s personal residence, Mar-a-Lago<\/a>, in Palm Beach, Florida. While many across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/08\/08\/politics\/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-fbi-donald-trump\/index.html\">legacy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelSteele\/status\/1556816227695214595\">social<\/a> media have taken this as an opportunity to shout their usual partisan rhetoric, one thing is readily apparent\u2014unchecked federal agencies, and not just the FBI, are being weaponized against Americans at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n<p>On August 8, 2022, the FBI raided former-President Trump\u2019s home, purportedly to recover certain classified files, or out of concern for how Trump was storing some classified files, or to corroborate which classified files Trump had in his possession. One thing we do know is that the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilipWegmann\/status\/1557806274456289282\">personally approved the decision to seek a warrant.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In modern history, no former president has been raided by an executive branch agency. To make matters worse, the agency is controlled by the opposing party, maybe the very individual Trump would be running against. And the warrant was approved by Merrick Garland, who <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Supreme_Court_nomination_of_Merrick_Garland\">would almost certainly be sitting on the Supreme Court, but for Trump\u2019s election in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of transparency and even the appearance of abuse here is highly problematic. But to be clear, this isn\u2019t just a problem with the FBI, or even this particular administration. This is what happens when the federal government grows unchecked, with near unlimited authority, and claims the power to tread upon every person\u2019s life for any reason what-so-ever.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the FBI. Beyond just the Bureau\u2019s raid on Mar-a-Lago, the FBI doesn\u2019t exactly have a good track record. Who could forget when U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifs.org\/blog\/fbi-targets-outspoken-parents-school-boards-silence-them\/\">ordered the FBI to investigate parents<\/a> at school board meetings across the country because they were being labeled as a threat for trying to protect their children. Or when the FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2020\/04\/03\/surveillance-court-cites-lack-confidence-fbi-surveillance\/2944403001\/\">seemingly repeatedly lied to the ever-secretive surveillance court<\/a> in order to illegally conduct electronic surveillance. There is also Waco and Ruby Ridge, but you can\u2019t talk about those incidents without the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.projectveritas.com\/news\/fbi-whistleblower-leaks-bureaus-domestic-terrorism-symbols-guide-on-militia\/\">FBI now labeling you potential Militia Violent Extremist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond just the FBI, recently we learned that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/guns-body-armor-spy-gear-heres-what-bidens-beefed-up-irs-investigation-unit-will-pack\">received funding to add 87,000 additional agents to its ranks<\/a>, which will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atr.org\/irs-has-4600-guns-and-five-million-rounds-of-ammo-will-dem-bill-grow-arsenal\/\">armed with the IRS\u2019s expansive arsenal<\/a> and must be willing to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/irs-seeks-armed-accountants-ready-for-deadly-force\">carry a firearm, and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary<\/a>.\u201d This is the same IRS, mind you, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/10\/27\/560308997\/irs-apologizes-for-aggressive-scrutiny-of-conservative-groups\">admitted to targeting conservative organizations<\/a> using \u201cheightened scrutiny and inordinate delay.\u201d And while the IRS says that it will \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/irs-we-will-absolutely-not-target-everyday-americans-with-new-army-of-agents\">absolutely not\u201d target \u201csmall businesses or middle-income Americans<\/a>,\u201d it\u2019s pretty telling the IRS feels it necessary to even say as much.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is everyone\u2019s favorite federal agency from the past two and a half years, the Center for Disease Control (CDC). At this point, it almost seems silly to recount the numerous guidance documents and regulations that the CDC has issued since the start of the pandemic that completely upended the lives of millions of supposedly free people, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/sacramento\/news\/causing-coronavirus-confusion-again-cdc-flip-flops-on-guidance-regarding-covid-19-spread\/\">flip flopping<\/a> on its position the whole time. This all culminated into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/cdc-majorly-eases-covid-restrictions-ahead-of-school-year\">CDC changing its guidance just this week<\/a> to drop most quarantine recommendations, to recommend ending testing on non-symptomatic people, and to treat vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals the same.<\/p>\n<p>Last, and possibly worse, we have the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the agency that is currently in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2022\/04\/26\/2022-08026\/definition-of-frame-or-receiver-and-identification-of-firearms\">process of trying to re-define the word \u201cfirearm\u201d through an agency rulemaking<\/a>. This isn\u2019t Congress passing a new law.\u00a0 This is a federal agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/fpc-files-new-lawsuit-challenging-atf-frame-or-receiver-rule\">changing its \u201cinterpretation\u201d of federal law in order to expand its power<\/a>.\u00a0 The agency did the same thing in 2018 when it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/department-justice-announces-bump-stock-type-devices-final-rule\">said that a bump stock <\/a>attached to a semi-automatic firearm magically converts the firearm into a machinegun\u2014even though it plainly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/fifth-circuit-brief-semi-automatic-firearms-bump-stocks-are-not-machine-guns\">doesn\u2019t meet the definition of a machinegun<\/a> established by Congress. And don\u2019t forget, if you violate one of the ATF\u2019s vague and nonsensical regulations (not laws) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/924\">you can be charged with a felony and spend up to 5 years in prison<\/a>\u2014per offense.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s be perfectly clear, the FBI\u2019s raid on Mar-a-Lago is hugely problematic. Even if it were justified, the agency\u2019s handling of the scenario exposes the severe lack of trust federal agencies have rightfully earned for themselves over the past half-century (or more). We the People have allowed the federal government too much control. When the FBI can conduct a surprise raid on a political opponent, when the IRS can employ and arm tens of thousands of tax-agents willing to use deadly force, when the CDC can stop you from earning a living, and when the ATF can dictate how you get to protect yourself, we have a government that has run off the tracks.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time to end federal agency overreach. It\u2019s time to stop allowing bureaucrats to run our lives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just about everyone in the United States\u2014and maybe most of the Western World\u2014 has heard about the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) raid on former President Trump\u2019s personal residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. While many across legacy and social media have taken this as an opportunity to shout their usual partisan rhetoric, one thing &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1609369,"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-1609132","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\/1609132","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1609132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1609369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1609132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1609132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1609132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}