President Donald Trump is six months into his second term.
He has accomplished a lot, including preventing a nuclear war in the Middle East.
He used President Obama’s approach of “a pen and a phone” to revoke numerous Biden autopen-signed rules and regulations through executive order, and he pushed the Big Beautiful Bill into law.
The BBB has yet to be fully realized, and like most behemoth bills from Congress, one must follow Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s rule that you need to pass the bill to see what’s in it -- caveat emptor.
This is only one side of the Trump equation. The other side involves a long-overdue, necessary crackdown on corruption, holding the deep state’s lawfare accountable, including lying, deflection, and obfuscation. When and where will the reckoning happen?
Screenshot The Last Refuge // by permission
The Britannica Dictionary defines reckoning as “the time when your actions are judged as good or bad and you are rewarded or punished.” I’m not talking about revenge, although that is tempting. Instead, it means following the law and holding those guilty to account.
Where is the judgment and punishment? So far, it’s only been rewards and a lack of accountability for the perpetrators.
Trump, during his first presidential campaign, delivered one of his most important speeches in October 2016, less than a month before the election. He started with these words, signaling an upcoming reckoning.
Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American people. There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense.
Start with the news of the day: Jeffrey Epstein’s mysterious death and the curiously vanishing “files.” FBI’s top two, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, were outspoken about Epstein’s alleged suicide and past sex trafficking before they joined the FBI, then shifted their stance to “there’s nothing to see here, move along.”
Is it because they were duped into believing there was a ‘there there’? If so, that doesn’t inspire confidence in their ability to lead and reform the corrupt FBI. Or were they told to drop this story, just like former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta was instructed a decade ago, saying, "I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone."
Maybe there are no “client files.” Or perhaps revealing, if they exist, would undermine the U.S. and other governments.
There is lots of smoke but no fire.
I asked Grok if there was any evidence of these files and was told, "There is no definitive evidence that Jeffrey Epstein maintained a specific ‘client list’ of individuals involved in his sex trafficking activities."
Was Epstein controlled by an intelligence agency, whether foreign or domestic? Were his “clients” involved in illegal activities? Many women have claimed they were. Will we ever get clear answers, or will Epstein become just another conspiracy theory?
If the FBI or DOJ had any damaging evidence against Trump, they would have released it long ago. Instead, the Wall Street Journal now claims to have “seen” some strange Trump drawings.
Last week brought some good news about the Russia collusion hoax, and finally, after ten years, there might be a reckoning. Or will it just be another “mistakes were made” excuse with promises from the FBI and DOJ to do better next time?
Hopefully, the former with this recent announcement: “FBI opens 'grand conspiracy' probe on weaponization, opening door to special prosecutor.” Will this investigation be the real deal? Or a dud like the Special Counsel John Durham investigation?
Despite high expectations and numerous teasings from the Q-team about Durham, criminal charges were only filed against three individuals. Two were acquitted, and one entered a guilty plea but received no prison time. The latter was Kevin Clinesmith, who lied about Carter Page not being an intelligence asset.
The original Durham report may contain some useful nuggets to promote much-needed accountability. Or more likely not.
What about the major Russiagate players – Comey, Clapper, and Brennan? And Mr. Big himself, Barack Obama? They all seem to be part of this “grand conspiracy” to rig an election and remove a duly elected president, based on a fabricated political opposition research dossier and a weaponized federal law enforcement apparatus.
Any reckoning coming, or is it just another hyped-up nothingburger?
Those are the main attractions, but what about the supporting schemes to take down Donald Trump and the MAGA movement? Is there any accountability here? Let’s review a few of these.
Who murdered Seth Rich in what was thought to be a failed robbery where no one was actually robbed? Was he punished for whistleblowing to Wikileaks? We still don’t know.
What emails did Hillary Clinton keep on her bathroom server? Was it yoga lessons or highly classified materials leaked for financial or political gain? We still don’t know because FBI Director Comey chose to look the other way.
Then there is Anthony Weiner’s laptop. What was on it? Allegedly, nine of the twelve people who viewed the contents are now dead. Very Clintonesque, but Anthony was, during the laptop days, married to Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s personal assistant, who recently married George Soros’s son. A tangled web with dead bodies, and no reckoning. And unlikely to happen at this point.
Then there are the shooters. Las Vegas mass killer Stephen Paddock’s motive is “a mystery” to the FBI. Ask any questions, and big media cries “conspiracy theory." Yet the same FBI found “motive” for hundreds arrested and imprisoned for leisurely strolling the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6.
But there is no clear motive for a mass shooter or a presidential assassin. Thomas Crooks remains “a mystery.” Of course he does. A 20-year-old with no social media presence sneaks a rifle within shooting range of the former and potential future president while the best protective agency in the world misses it all, worried about standing on a sloped roof.
All the major media networks just happened to be covering Trump’s Butler rally that day. Doug Mills, an award-winning photographer
So many coincidences, yet it remains a mystery. A half dozen Secret Service agents were suspended over the day's events, not a day later but a year later. No answers, little if any accountability, and no reckoning.
Another mystery is Ryan Routh, who was nearly an assassin. How did he almost shoot candidate Trump? The Secret Service failed twice. Would this be acceptable elsewhere?
Then there is the relentless lawfare against Trump and the Biden administration’s effort to imprison a political opponent. Is there any accountability for weaponizing the federal government against a political candidate? Or raiding his Mar-a-Lago home?
What about Peek-a-boo New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is alleged to have committed mortgage fraud, as filmmaker Joel Gilbert nicely outlined? Sen. Adam Schiff is accused of the same. Will justice be served, or will they get a pass because they are Democrats?
And COVID, the origins, management, and censorship or worse directed against anyone challenging the government narrative. What about the vaccines, once portrayed as “safe and effective,” now found to be the opposite? Vaccine mandates, business and school closures, destroying kids and families. Is there any accountability or reckoning?
What about the autopen? And the Biden presidency? Who was really in charge, making decisions, signing executive orders, and pardons? Who knew about Biden’s cognitive impairment and covered it up?
This is fraud on a scale that makes Watergate seem minor. It appears that all the corrupt players are invoking the Fifth Amendment. Will that satisfy Congressional investigators, who are eager to spend more money on Ukraine rather than getting answers and accountability for a bogus presidency?
And elections in general. There is credible evidence that our elections are not entirely fair. Election rigging can take many forms, from determining who is allowed to vote and how ballots are collected and counted, to how news censorship influences public opinion.
An example of the latter is the 51 intelligence officials who claimed in a letter that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation and that the Biden campaign orchestrated the letter. How many votes did this letter influence? Will the intelligence officials be held accountable for their lies and election interference?
There are many more instances of government misconduct, much of it illegal and possibly treasonous. But so far, there has been no accountability. Will we ever see a reckoning? Or will it be Bueller… Bueller… Bueller?
Trump pledged in 2015 to “drain the swamp.” However, much of it still exists, appearing on cable news, publishing books, and mocking the concept of a reckoning.
Is Trump playing 17-D chess with his enemies, baiting them into a trap? Or is it the other way around?
Trump may have legislative and foreign policy successes, but his MAGA base sees themselves and their leader as wronged by the ruling class and the administrative state. They want accountability and a reckoning, even if the media howls over the “constitutional crisis.”
If there is no reckoning, when the left eventually regains power, they will double down. After all, they were given a pass on their illegal and treasonous activities. The reckoning or punishment must send a clear message.
It must be sufficiently harsh so that no one ever attempts these schemes again. Otherwise, they will, and Trump’s legacy will be that the swamp wins.
Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph, and email brianjoondeph@gmail.com.