Democrats are rushing to weaponize every institution they can to block the America First agenda, and the recent spectacle in Washington should alarm every patriot. Former special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee has become the latest prop in a political play designed to delegitimize President Trump and the voters who put him in office. Republicans are right to push back hard when prosecutors and unelected bureaucrats start picking winners and losers in our elections.
Jack Smith went before the committee to defend the prosecutions he brought against President Trump, insisting his decisions were purely legal and that the evidence justified his actions. Smith repeatedly said the Jan. 6 attack “does not happen without” Mr. Trump and insisted he would have pursued charges regardless of party — an assertion that only deepens the partisan divisions gripping the country. But Americans watching saw a former prosecutor trying to justify extraordinary actions that stalled the policies voters demanded at the ballot box.
Republicans on the panel called foul on process, and rightly so: closed-door depositions, selective transcripts, and a political media echo chamber do not equal fair justice. The committee released a lengthy transcript of Smith’s private deposition, but many questions about selective leaks and selective enforcement remain unanswered. This is what happens when the administrative state decides it can overrule voters by criminalizing politics instead of winning at the ballot box.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn and other conservative leaders have sounded the alarm on Sunday morning shows, pointing out the pattern of politicization and the Democrats’ appetite for using every tool to derail reform. Blackburn’s appearances on Fox News have emphasized the need for oversight and for standing up to an activist bureaucracy that views Trump as public enemy number one rather than a former president whose policies millions of Americans support. Hardworking citizens shouldn’t be punished because Washington elites cannot accept a different agenda.
Meanwhile, the chaos spilling out of Minneapolis shows what happens when law and order are replaced by performative outrage and political posturing. The fatal confrontation between federal agents and a local citizen, which ignited mass protests, has been seized by the left as proof that federal enforcement must be curtailed, even as the full facts remain contested and investigations proceed. The violence and shutdowns that followed have hurt ordinary Minnesotans while the progressive establishment plays politics with public safety.
This tragedy came on the heels of another controversial incident earlier in January, and the left’s immediate reflex was to organize economic blackouts and parades of protest instead of demanding calm and clarity. Activists and some Democratic officials rushed to indictments in the court of public opinion, while state and federal authorities sparred over jurisdiction and evidence preservation. The result is a city under strain and a national conversation hijacked by outrage rather than sober oversight.
Conservatives must be clear-eyed: defending law enforcement does not mean condoning every action, but it does mean rejecting the weaponization of tragedy to wreck a presidential agenda. The American people deserve full transparency, fair investigations, and an end to partisan grandstanding that substitutes for governance. If Democrats want to change policy, they should debate and win votes — not try to cancel political opposition by dragging officials into show trials and street theatrics.
Now is the time for Republicans to keep fighting in Congress, in the courts, and in the court of public opinion to expose these dirty deeds and to protect the will of voters. Lawmakers like Sen. Blackburn are right to demand accountability from partisan prosecutors and from activist officials who think they can pick presidents by process rather than the ballot box. Patriots won’t sit silent while the administrative state tries to bully the electorate — we will keep pushing for safe borders, secure communities, and honest government that serves every American.
