Remember John Durham? It seems like an eternity ago, but at one point, the former special counsel represented one of the only hopes to deliver some accountability regarding the Russian collusion hoax.
In late 2021, Durham charged Igor Danchenko, the primary source for Christopher Steele’s infamous anti-Trump dossier, with multiple counts of making false statements to the FBI. One of the charges involved the fabrication of a phone call that alleged a conspiracy between now-President Donald Trump and Russia to influence the 2016 election. Keep that in mind as we walk through another seemingly unrelated story that isn’t as disconnected as it would seem.
RELATED: John Durham’s Response to Rep. Steve Cohen’s Dig At His Reputation Was Chef’s Kiss
On Monday, Judge Anthony Trenga blocked a series of firings ordered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and DNI Tulsi Gabbard. The federal employees in question were working in various diversity, equity, and inclusion roles, putting their continued employment at odds with Trump’s order to shutter government DEI departments.
A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from firing 19 staffers at the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence who’d worked on initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which President Donald Trump had ordered terminated.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga in eastern Virginia rejected the request for a temporary block on Trump’s policy on Feb. 27, ruling the staffers could ask for reassignment. But the CIA said the staffers had no right of review over their firings.
Trenga shifted course Monday, deciding the intelligence staffers deserved the opportunity to appeal their firings and to be considered for other jobs.
You can make a legal argument from anything, and no shortage of judges have shown us that during the first few months of the second Trump administration, but I want to speak to this as a layman. I know that may not matter in a court of law, but politically, it’s worth considering why Americans are so hostile to the bureaucratic state, and this is a perfect example.
In this case, the judge originally sided with the administration before changing course, deciding that those fired “deserved the opportunity to appeal their firings and to be considered for other jobs.” Ask yourself, if you were let go tomorrow from your job, would you get a chance to “appeal your firing” or “be considered for other jobs?” For almost everyone reading this, the answer will be a resounding no. The sense of entitlement surrounding federal government employees is simply off-putting.
What does that have to do with Durham’s prosecution of Danchenko? Well, in the end, a certain FISA judge stepped in to essentially nuke the special counsel’s case, ending the only real chance of anyone being held to account for the Russian collusion hoax. One of the charges was thrown out while key evidence was ruled inadmissible.
The judge who this week blocked efforts by the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to fire employees involved with divisive DEI programs previously helped kneecap one of special counsel John Durham’s cases tied to the Russia collusion hoax…
…Trenga, the judge who also oversaw Durham’s case against the Russian-born Igor Danchenko, kneecapped the special counsel ahead of the October 2022 trial, including ruling that Durham could not use details from the FBI’s prior counterintelligence investigation into Danchenko. He was accused of being the main source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s debunked dossier. Trenga limited a host of other evidence Durham had sought to show the jury as well.
During the trial, Trenga dealt Durham’s case another blow as he dismissed one of the false-statement charges brought against Danchenko, who was acquitted of all charges in October 2022. The Eastern District of Virginia is known for handling many national security cases, and Trenga has also been a member of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court since May 2020, and has been the presiding judge on the secretive court since May 2023.
If it seems like the same few judges are ruling the country, it’s probably because that’s pretty much what’s happening. Because so many of these cases involving executive actions end up being heard in the same D.C.-area district, we keep seeing the same judges ruling over and over against the Trump administration.
Is it any wonder people feel like the system is unfair? Even if you assume there’s no bias at work in all these decisions, which is not a safe assumption, having a handful of judges constantly overruling seemingly lawful executive actions is going to build distrust. People want to feel like their votes matter, and right now, you can’t say unequivocally that they do. That’s a problem.
Editor’s Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump’s agenda to make America great again.
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