Obama’s ‘rule of law’ hypocrisy | TheHill – The Hill

Did former President Obama himself leak the audio of his conversation with some of his former administration officials, in which he falsely claimed that former National Security Advisory Mike Flynn was charged with perjury (it was false statements to the FBI) while describing the Barr Justice Departments dismissal of the Flynn case as putting the rule of law at risk? Or did a former Obama aide take liberties (and possibly violate the law) by recording and leaking the conversation? Well probably never know the answer to that one, but what we do know for certain is this: Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaObama criticism gets under GOP's skin Ex-GOP chairman slams McConnell for saying Obama should 'keep his mouth shut' Polls show Biden has edge with voters who don't like their choices MORE is the last person on earth who should try to lecture anyone about the rule of law.

It was then-Sen. Obama who in 2005 lambasted the PATRIOT Act as a mortal threat to constitutional liberties, and who two years later during his presidential run said he would end warrantless wiretapping of Americans. Instead, Obama went on to urge renewal of the controversial and ineffective surveillance that Edward Snowden subsequently exposed during Obamas second term in office, and then sought Snowdens prosecution for exposing the very warrantless surveillance Obama had previously pledged to end.

In response to the 2008 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report about the CIAs rendition and torture program, the newly elected President Obama admitted that we tortured some folks but then told Americans to look forwards, not backwardsnot firing a single CIA employee involved in the torture program, including the Agencys now-current director, Gina HaspelGina Cheri HaspelObama's 'rule of law' hypocrisy Former CIA chief: Not 'right' for Haspel to applaud at State of the Union Schiff schedules public hearing with US intel chief MORE.

Obama arguably violated the Constitution and the War Powers Act by ordering military action against Libya in 2011, despite no attack by Libya on U.S. interests or personnel anywhere in the world prior to Obamas green-lighting a military campaign without congressional consultation, much less authorization.

Obamas constitutional overreach on immigration resulted in a deadlocked Supreme Court effectively vitiating his executive order, further setting back efforts to bring actual reform to Americas broken immigration system.

Americas 44th president set all too many precedents for executive power grabs and miscarriages of justice, as so many of his predecessors did before him. Obamas lack of self-awareness regarding his own role, and that of prior chief executives, in setting the stage for Trump is what makes his hypocrisy in this episode all the more amazing. And the idea that his running mate and vice president for eight years is behaving any differently nowconsider the Tara Reade episodewould be laughable were the stakes this November not so incredibly high.

That Washingtons Political Class is self-serving, corrupt, and not terribly concerned with the daily struggles of most Americans is something many of those voters long ago recognized. The hope Obama promised was a chimera, and Make American Great Again was the cynical fantasy Trump sold a desperate, and gullible, white working class in his first campaign. As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, protecting Americans from a genuine threat to their health and safety is the furthest thing from Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpNew York Times: Reporter who called for CDC chief's resignation went 'too far' GOP's Don Bacon and challenger neck-and-neck in Democratic poll Cheney defends Fauci: 'We need his expertise' to defeat coronavirus MOREs mind; his focus, as ever, is on only himself. But it is the gall of Obamas rule of law riff that underscores his political fraudulenceit is the flip side of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellObama criticism gets under GOP's skin On The Money: House Democrats unveil trillion coronavirus relief package | SCOTUS divided in Trump financial records case | Fed under pressure to speed up, expand emergency loans McConnell, GOP senators support exempting VA health funds from budget caps MOREs (R-Ky.) rigged impeachment trial of Trump earlier this year.

Obamas failure to actually hold his own predecessor, and key federal bureaucrats at the CIA, NSA, and FBI, responsible for their War on Terror misdeeds at home and abroad makes it easier to understand why the FBI has been able, for so long, to abuse the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court process to improperly spy on Americans. The reality is that Obama, and many of his predecessors over the last 100 years, took deliberate actions that hastened the decline of the rule of law we now confront at the federal level in 21st century America. Our path out of this legal and ethical morass must begin with the understanding that ending out-of-control presidential power is the most important, long-term task facing Congress and the nation.

Former CIA analyst and ex-House Senior Policy Advisor Patrick Eddington is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute.

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Obama's 'rule of law' hypocrisy | TheHill - The Hill