The Federal Bureau of Investigation

As you probably know, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided former President Trump’s estate at Mar-a-lago in Florida.  President Trump still had classified documents and very sensitive material in his possession.  In fact, there is a chance that he may have violated the Espionage Act for not returning the documents sooner.  Having the Justice Department search a former President and likely political opponent of our current President is certainly unprecedented.

In addition, many of President’s Trump’s supporters have a deep distrust of the FBI, and there is concern his supporters could respond with violence.  They claim that failing democracies and autocracies use the power of government to punish political opponents (which is very true). But if we live in a country of laws, then no one should be above the law (including former Presidents).  After all, if these documents got into the wrong hands, and if they are indeed as sensitive as the media is reporting, then a lot of people could get hurt.

Knowing all of this, and also knowing the level of distrust and partisan fervor that exist today, pretend you are the Attorney General.  What would you have ordered the FBI to do?  Do former Presidents deserve discretion, and if so, how much?  Finally, please address, what are the long term consequences to our democracy if Presidential administrations use the power of the government (i.e. the Justice department) to  search or investigate their political opponents