Eric Swalwell became the latest Democrat to watch his alleged corruption finally catch up with him. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte formally requested the investigation in a Wednesday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing "allegedly false and misleading statements" Swalwell made regarding the purchase of a $1.2 million home in Washington D.C.
Predictably, Swalwell responded with theatrical defiance, posting a statement to X that claimed he's being targeted for his criticism of Donald Trump. "As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me," he wrote. "Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come—I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world."
ICYMI: Eric Swalwell Now the Target of DOJ Criminal Referral
The phony bravado is laughable. The same critics who previously praised Biden's efforts to put Trump in prison because "no one is above the law" are now objecting when a Republican administration pursues that same accountability against those who allegedly abused their power or broke the law. The hypocrisy practically writes itself.
Swalwell himself loved to use the phrase.
No one is above the law.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 21, 2020
No one is above the law.
No one is above the law.
No one is above the law. pic.twitter.com/U40kjGEiH4
It's a basic American value that no one—not even the President—is above the law. This is bigger than just Donald Trump. This is about protecting our nation’s highest office and ensuring that from here on out every person—no matter his or her title—is held accountable. pic.twitter.com/QfcnvbeA2k
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 23, 2020
When I came to Congress I took an oath to defend & uphold the Constitution. While we’re still working to pass commonsense gun reform & lower healthcare costs, we must also hold this president accountable. We can’t think politically about this decision. No one is above the law. pic.twitter.com/HVC4AwTWKL
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 8, 2019
I could go on, but you get the point. Democrats love to preach accountability and the rule of law when they’re trying to imprison their enemies, but when their own corruption is under the microscope, it’s clear that when they say “no one is above the law,” the rest of the slogan is “except us.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and now Rep. Eric Swalwell are all claiming to be victims of retribution. Schiff, James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Swalwell face credible accusations of mortgage fraud. Comey appears to have lied to Congress. These individuals are not victims of Trump's grudge. They're corrupt operators who abused their office to undermine the democratic process.
There’s a real difference between abusing the justice system to crush political opponents and holding officials accountable for actual wrongdoing. Trump is restoring integrity after the blatant politicization that flourished under Joe Biden. Biden’s attorney general signed off on indicting the sitting president’s rival in the middle of an election. That’s not some abstract concern. It’s the definition of election interference. Those who went after Trump were his political adversaries, working off a shared agenda. Now Democrats expect the public to pretend they’re the ones under siege. The record tells a different story.
Make no mistake about it, Trump is doing what millions of voters demanded when they returned him to office with a mandate for accountability. Voters asked Trump to root out corruption rather than look the other way while Democrats allegedly perpetuate it. These Democrats are using allegations of political persecution as a shield, gaslighting the public into believing that equal application of the law somehow constitutes a two-tier system of justice where Democrats are always innocent.
The phrase "no one is above the law" means nothing if it means Democrats can target their political enemies with bogus charges, but Republicans can’t hold Democrats accountable for actual crimes. Democrats had their chance to establish a fair standard. They chose partisan warfare instead. Now they have to live by the mantra they espoused for four years when Biden was in office.
