After Watergate, puzzled, trying to figure out reams of new election laws, I started looking for a lawyer – but there wasn’t a single lawyer in North Carolina who practiced that kind of law. I called Stan Evans, head of the American Conservative Union in Washington, and he said one name: “John Bolton.”
A week later, I walked into a Washington office expecting to meet a gray-haired lawyer; surprised, sat down facing a slender young man with reddish-brown hair. Most lawyers ramble, talking in circles, using legalese. When I asked John Bolton questions, not beating around the bush, he shot back clear concise answers.
We’ve now been friends nearly fifty years and one thing’s still true: No politician, John doesn’t tap dance, evading tough issues. He gives clear concise answers.
Last Thursday night, turning on the news, I watched him being interviewed on TV, explaining why he thought Trump was wrong about Putin. The next morning I got a surprise: When I turned on the TV I watched FBI agents raiding John’s home in Bethesda, Maryland.
In a nutshell: John disagreed with Trump. And the FBI raided John’s home. That was political retribution pure and simple.
Because they are Trump supporters most of my Republican friends saw nothing wrong with raiding an honest man’s house. But turning the FBI into a political weapon is an abuse of power. And it’s a mistake to ignore that Trump crossed a line in the sand when he did that to punish someone who disagreed with him.
We’ve been rolling downhill, ethics waning, for years. But ask yourself a question: Where do we end up when politicians in both parties use power to punish people who disagree with them?
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Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.
