Opinion: Man's home should be his castle

I saw this meme on the ’net the other day: “The rule of law, like Santa Claus, is a myth. It is only real when people believe in it.”

For several years now, it has become fashionable for electronic news media to describe some event they are covering as a “bombshell.” Last Monday, the news being discussed turned out to be exactly that.

The FBI raided the Mar-a-Logo home of former President Donald Trump. Whatever you may think about this event, it is certainly unprecedented in the truest sense of the word. A raid of this nature on a former president had never occurred before.

The feds were supposedly searching for some unspecified documents that the former president had allegedly taken from the White House under questionable circumstances. The G-Men even called in a safe cracker to get into Trump’s home safe. Late last week, it was still unclear exactly what they found.

And so we have the unending Ahab-like search to charge Donald J. Trump with something, anything that will prevent him from running for president in 2024.

The question of whether or not the U.S. Justice Department has become politicized is beginning to rear its ugly head. Had you told me four years ago that something of this nature could happen here, I would have thought you unhinged. Legal procedure is not to facilitate or expedite prosecution, rather it is to ensure equal protection for all.

It has been customary in most cases of documents taken from the White House under questionable conditions for the seekers to contact the former president and request the return of the missing papers. If refused, they file a court order for their return. Adjudication follows until the issue is resolved. It is not the norm to request a search warrant for the home of the prior president.

For conspiracy theorists everywhere, the magistrate judge who signed the warrant was Bruce Reinhart, former attorney for employees of Jeffrey Epstein.

In the past, what has not killed The Donald, has made him stronger. Russia-gate and impeachment did just that, and this latest episode will cause Trump to double down. It almost guarantees that he will run for president in 2024. Trump charges into challenges.

“The rule of law, like Santa Claus, is a myth. It is only real when people believe in it.”

Wish I had written that.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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