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Pierce writes: "A Trump U.S. attorney's attack on the Philadelphia district attorney is just the latest example."

The crime scene at a Philadelphia rowhouse. (photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The crime scene at a Philadelphia rowhouse. (photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)


The Department of Justice Is Being Politicized From Top to Bottom

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

19 August 19


A Trump U.S. attorney's attack on the Philadelphia district attorney is just the latest example.

n Wednesday, an alleged drug dealer named Maurice Hill barricaded himself for nearly eight hours in a Philadelphia rowhouse, blasting away with an AR-15 and wounding six of that city's police officers. (The gun battle began in the afternoon when officers showed up at the house trying to serve a warrant.) Eventually, after lengthy negotiations and the liberal use of tear gas, Hill surrendered. One of the negotiators was Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner, and that is going to become important later on.

In the immediate aftermath, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kinney was palpably furious. From ABC News:

"Whether it was the six officers or some kid on the street of Philadelphia who gets shot with guns that shouldn't be in people's hands, it's aggravating and sad," Kinney said...If the bullet that grazed the head of one officer hit a slightly different spot, his "two boys would've grow up without a dad," the mayor said. "Because this government, both federal and state level, don't want to do anything about getting guns off the street."

"If the state and federal government don't want to stand up to the NRA and other folks, let us police ourselves," Kinney said. "Our officers deserve to be protected and don't deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with unlimited amount of weapons and bullets. It's disgusting...Getting relief in the form of meaningful gun control legislation will save lives -- the lives of residents, and the lives of the men and women who have sworn to protect us. Incidents like this should not keep happening -- not in our city, not in our country. If we fail to act, we will continue to see gun violence ravage our communities and tear families apart. So I say to our state and federal lawmakers: Step up -- or step aside."

On Thursday, however, a whole new political battlefront was opened up by local U.S. Attorney William McSwain, a Trump appointee who has learned his lessons well. McSwain issued a scathing attack on DA Krasner, with whom he has been feuding almost since McSwain was appointed. In any other time, a U.S. attorney likely would have avoided criticizing a local DA so soon after an incident like this one, particularly one that ended relatively peacefully.

But this is not an ordinary time, and this is not an ordinary Department of Justice, and these are not ordinary U.S. attorneys. From the AP, via ABC 6:

What I witnessed last night was true heroism by the Philadelphia police. But the crisis was precipitated by a stunning disrespect for law enforcement - a disrespect so flagrant and so reckless that the suspect immediately opened fire on every single officer within shooting distance. Only by the grace of God did they survive. Where does such disrespect come from?
There is a new culture of disrespect for law enforcement in this City that is promoted and championed by District Attorney Larry Krasner - and I am fed up with it. It started with chants at the DA's victory party - chants of "F*** the police" and "No good cops in a racist system." We've now endured over a year and a half of the worst kinds of slander against law enforcement - the DA routinely calls police and prosecutors corrupt and racist, even "war criminals" that he compares to Nazis.

The alleged shooter last night, Maurice Hill, is a previously convicted felon with a long rap sheet. We have plenty of criminal laws in this City - but what we don't have is robust enforcement by the District Attorney. Instead, among other things, we have diversionary programs for gun offenses, the routine downgrading of charges for violent crime, and entire sections of the criminal code that are ignored. The criminal laws in this City - and especially the existing gun laws and drug laws - should be aggressively enforced in order to protect the public and the police. My Office is doing all that we can. We have prosecuted 70% more violent crime cases this year than we did last year, in response to the District Attorney's lawlessness. But it is now time for the District Attorney and his enablers to stop making excuses for criminals. It is time for accountability. It is time to support law enforcement and to put the good people of this City first.

Krasner, a reformer, was elected to try and rein in a police culture in Philadelphia that long had been a violent one. Almost from the moment he was appointed by the president*, McSwain went to war with Krasner, most notably last February concerning a plea bargain Krasner's office cut with a defendant who had shot a store owner. McSwain brought federal charges in the case while alleging that Krasner's reforms were endangering the public. McSwain even contributed an op-ed to this effect in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Now, in the aftermath of Wednesday's shootout, McSwain might as well be doing his press availabilities in a MAGA hat. He leaped onto Tucker Carlson's show on Wednesday night and called Krasner a "Soros-funded" prosecutor. Why it's almost as though the Department of Justice, from the attorney general on down to straight-talkin' Bill McSwain, is being...politicized, and why this always happens during Republican administrations is a topic worth exploring at a later date. For now, get used to this. I think we're going to be hearing a lot from Bill McSwain, who knows who is boss really is.

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