This lickspittle's ludicrous report reveals Trump's true aim in power

On Tuesday, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) came forth, evidently speaking on behalf of the GOP majority on the House Oversight Committee, to label President Joe Biden's late pardons of many key Trump critics null and void.

Comer claimed that Biden did not personally authorize the use of autopens to sign pardons issued to good Americans who simply opposed President Donald Trump and his followers.

Comer's claim, done surely on the order of Trump himself, is not only clearly wrong as a matter of fact and law. It is yet another dictatorial move that threatens gut-wrenching harm to constitutional and civil self-government. It also sends many innocent lives careening towards extreme legal predicaments.

Of all Trump and MAGA's "retribution" to date, attacking Biden's pardons is the single most reckless and vicious act.

To put my lawyer hat on, momentarily, the benefit of autopen use is that signatures on documents, once accepted, are utterly binding. No exceptions. Period. This is especially true given President Biden specifically said he authorized every single one.

It is insane to allege that those pardons did not count.

I could cite all the cases that affirm the position, but they are nearly meaningless to most. Even lawyers only want the simple conclusion. But still, the validity is inarguably laid out in cases such as Ex parte Garland (1866) and Biddle v. Perovich (1927).

One does not need any legal training to note that even though the law is ironclad that the pardons stand, the whole point of Comer's declaration and investigation is to put the recipients through the hell of the prosecutorial process.

Even if we were to grant Trump and Republicans' strongest assertion, that someone fraudulently used an autopen to issue pardons behind the president's back, the pardons themselves would still be valid as accepted, and the only legitimate crimes to prosecute would be against staff who may have abused the process. That's it. Period.

Thus it is that even though Dr. Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and others will almost surely have their pardons stand, whether Biden authorized them or not — and he says he did — the real goal is already fulfilled. The point is that Trump and his lackeys want their targets to be forced to resort to extremely expensive defense lawyers, perhaps to be charged, booked, etc, all while asserting their rights and ultimately having their cases thrown out.

The process is the punishment for taking action the MAGA crowd doesn't like. That alone is guilt, in most Trump supporters' eyes.

Given that the law is as clear and simple as it gets, the fact that Comer, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Trump are recklessly doing it anyway shows breathtakingly precise dictatorial power, flowing from unmitigated rage.

When a country gets to the point that it is prosecuting critics for simply taking positions that the powerful don't like, it is, by definition, a dictatorship.

Sadder still, Trump campaigned on the issue, stating over and over again, "I am your retribution," cutely trying to show a duty to supporters, bearing the cross. It was "about them," when really he was the one burning inside. It is about revenge. He has said he loves blood-chilling payback more than nearly anything.

His MAGAs see this as merely the mirror image of Biden AG Merrick Garland's treatment of Trump. They are simply responding. "We" started it. Trump is a victim. So unfair.

That ridiculously self-serving view is as offensive to the core of democracy as can be. Trump invited prosecution when he tried to circumvent a perfectly normal election to stay in power, ultimately sending his supporters to sack the Capitol in what was, plainly, an attempted coup.

Usually, dictators attempt to violently overthrow government while knowing that it is all on the line — that they might give up their lives. Loser loses.

Trump got off easy, with Garland taking forever to appoint a special counsel, without jumping right off with the most obvious crimes, even though nearly the whole world supported quick action.

Now, as Trump retaliates, we can't even wholly count on all judges to simply toss cases out with lightning dispatch and possible sanctions.

Most will. Absolutely. It is that clear.

But some may fish for any reason to stay beholden to Trump, violating clear law in order to stay on the team. It is a dangerous time, these are dark days — as noted, ironically, by former President Biden himself.

Again: under no reading of the law can Biden's pardons be attacked. The only possible crimes could have been committed if someone actually did abuse the autopen to issue documents behind Biden's back.

But that's not the point, is it? It never is to an authoritarian. To the extent there were remaining doubts, we're well past them now. We live in a dictatorship, clear and proud.

Trump sees himself as king — but he is closer to a two-bit, cigar-chomping, uniform-wearing, balcony-strutting war lord. Less royalty, more Saddam. Trump probably wouldn't see that as particularly insulting. The U.S., that "Shining City on the Hill," is now governed by a plain old junta.

• Jason Miciak is an American Attorney, former Associate Editor of Occupy Democrats, former Executive Editor of Political Flare, author, and single dad. He can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com, or followed on Twitter or Bluesky.