(Editor’s Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
Over the weekend former first lady Melania Trump posted a video on (Twitter)/X that she said is “a warning to all Americans.”
“I never imagined my privacy would be invaded by the government here in America,” she began. “The FBI raided my home in Florida and searched through my personal belongings.”
The clip opened with these words from the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . . “
The former first lady continued, “This is not just my story, it serves as a warning to all Americans, a reminder that our freedom and rights must be respected.”
She isn’t alone. The FBI, under the Department of Justice headed by U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, have come under fire by others recently.
Last week Garland lashed out at their critics.
“Over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department’s career lawyers, agents, and other personnel that go far beyond scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work,” he said in a speech to U.S. attorneys.
“It is dangerous to target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law.
“You deserve better. You deserve gratitude.”
Every criticism against the state is “dangerous” and “outrageous” to this administration.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is concerned that the First Amendment is “hamstringing the Government” by preventing them from censoring speech on social media.
But the First Amendment is supposed to hamstring the government!
Vice President Kamala Harris thinks it’s outrageous that the Second Amendment could prevent a federal gun confiscation, which she calls a “buyback.” When told she can’t do that — especially by executive action — she replied, “yes we can!”
And apparently Merrick Garland thinks it’s “dangerous” and “outrageous” that anyone would object to sending FBI agents to paw through the personal belongings of a former president and first lady with no prior notice, despite Fourth Amendment safeguards.
During the same address, Garland said, “Law enforcement must never be treated as an apparatus for politics.”
But through Garland’s own actions, law enforcement has already become weaponized and turned into “an apparatus for politics.”
What else do you call it when you prosecute and sentence a 75-year-old pro-life activist in declining health to 24 months in prison for exercising her First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and pray at an abortion mill?
What else do you call it when you use the FBI to investigate parents as possible domestic terrorists for exercising their own First Amendment rights to speak freely at school board meetings?
What else do you call it when you raid the private residence of a former president after he announces his presidential campaign against the sitting president?
And what else do you call it when you place a military veteran and former member of Congress on a domestic terror watchlist for exercising her own First Amendment rights to criticize the current vice president?
Former Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential hopeful-turned Independent and Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard blasted Garland after finding herself in that position.
She said, “I would tell Merrick Garland today, if you are serious about the words you have just delivered to the American people, why don’t you start by investigating some of your own federal agencies, like @DHSgov & @TSA, & ask them why . . . the very next day after I called out Kamala Harris for being a danger to our country should she be elected as president, I got added to a secret domestic terrorist list.”
She added, “That’s a good place to start.”
In these and many other cases the DOJ has been turned into “an apparatus for politics.”
Our basic rights listed in the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are guarantees that the government has a responsibility to enforce — not violate.
But the more they try to chip away at them the more fragile they become.
Carving out free speech exceptions for “hate speech” or “misinformation” makes the First Amendment nearly worthless — particularly when the state defines those terms.
Although the state is supposed to enforce our rights, that task ultimately falls on the people. We have to guard and jealously hold on to them.
“And if you and I don’t do this,” said Ronald Reagan in 1961, “then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz’s Reports — More Here.
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