The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for March, 2023

It's a good thing I'm already in pain from my knee replacement this past week ... it has overshadowed much of the pain I'm feeling at the GOP multiple-ring circus raging around the potential indictment of Der Furor by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. If nothing else, it has shone a powerful spotlight on the degree of hypocrisy demonstrated by House Republicans in their efforts to muddy the judicial waters and protect - to an unconstitutionally-unprecedented level - Der Furor from legal peril of his own making.

No question about it this time. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the award for

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for March, 2023

is presented jointly to

Representative Jim Jordan (R, OH-4)

Chair, House Judiciary Committee

Representative James Comer (R, TN-1)

Chair, House Oversight and Accountability Committee

and

Representative Bryan Steil (R, WI-1)

Chair, House Administration Committee

These three House committee chairs, who have no power or authority over state or local level justice or law enforcement agencies, sent a letter to Manhattan DA Bragg criticizing his investigation as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority,” even though there has been no announcement of any charges. Their letter, and their public statements (and those of other prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy) represent an unheard-of use of federal power to interfere in a local criminal investigation. It is, in fact, hypocritical in the extreme that Mr Jordan*, who also chairs the ludicrous "Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government" is, in fact, weaponizing the Federal Government in an attempt to shield Der Furor from prosecution for crimes he is alleged to have committed. Equally galling is that Congressional Republicans have closed their eyes to the true "weaponization" of the justice system represented by the "lock her up!" chants led by Der Furor at his rallies, and Der Furor's shameless bragging to the Russian ambassador (in the Oval Office, no less) that he had fired his "nut-job" FBI director James Comey to relieve the pressure of the growing investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia. It should be noted that the Manhattan District Attorney's General Counsel, Leslie Dubek, sent a blistering response to the three Republicans, stating in part that

"Your letter dated March 20, 2023 (the "Letter"), in contrast, is an unprecedent (sic) inquiry into a pending local prosecution. The Letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry."

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Left-Cheek Ass Clown designation for March, 2023, is awarded jointly to three of the most shameless abusers of Congressional power in recent memory, who have joined to hypocritically wield their power to interfere in the administration of justice in favor of their orange demigod. They deserve the condemnation of all good people interested in the dispassionate rule of law.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when Cartoon Saturday returns.

Bilbo

* Himself a two-time Ass Clown awardee: December, 2019 Right-Cheek, and July, 2022 Left-Cheek.