In a lively interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Senator Johnson took the audience on a wild rollercoaster of political spin, unleashing a barrage of assertions about former President Donald Trump and his alleged decision not to pursue the prosecution of Hillary Clinton over her “email controversy.”
According to Johnson, Tump did not pursue the prosecution of 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton because it “was best for America.”
Accusing the press of conveniently overlooking the Biden family’s business affairs, the far-right lawmaker took a distorted view of Trump’s federal indictment over mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Johnson compared Trump’s choice with President Ford’s decision not to prosecute President Nixon, claiming that Trump essentially did the same by refraining from pursuing any legal action against Clinton. And just in case you’re wondering, according to Johnson, President Biden had the golden opportunity to follow in their footsteps, but he missed the memo.
“President Ford decided it was best for America not to pursue prosecution against President Nixon,” Johnson said. “President Trump pretty much made the same decision and decided not to pursue any kind of prosecution of Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden could have made the exact same decision but he didn’t.
Johnson then raised the stakes by highlighting a SWAT raid on Trump’s heavily fortified residence, all because of some federal records. Apparently, in Johnson’s world, a civil discussion over tea and biscuits would have sufficed. Who needs dramatic raids when you can settle things over a nice cup of Earl Grey?
“[Biden] allowed a SWAT raid on a very secure residence of President Trump over federal records, even though he was holding classified records himself. So that record issue should have been handled civilly, the far-right senator argued. “We should never even be in this place. But these are decisions President Biden made as much as he’s probably lying about not talking to the Justice Department at all. That’s pretty hard to believe when you understand how many other lies President Biden has told the public.”
Johnson: President Ford decided not to pursue prosecution against Nixon. President Trump pretty much made the same decision, decided not to pursue any prosecution of Hillary Clinton. You know, Joe Biden could have made the exact same decision, but he didn't pic.twitter.com/MqKlneGTmG
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 11, 2023
But let’s pump the brakes for a quick fact-checking. PolitiFact swiftly revealed that Trump did indeed attempt to have Clinton investigated by a special counsel, but it never came to fruition. He even pushed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to prosecute Clinton for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. Unfortunately for Johnson, the FBI had recommended against prosecution in 2016, and a State Department investigation in 2019 found no persuasive evidence of deliberate mishandling of classified information. Oops, wrong turn there, Senator!
Oh, and speaking of wrong turns, Representative Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) made a detour to correct the record. He recently fact-checked Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on similar GOP accusations, stating the obvious: presidents don’t have the power to personally jail or indict anyone—it’s the grand juries who hold that privilege. Let’s stick to the right GPS coordinates, shall we?
In the realm of politics, it seems fact-checkers and reality often play hide-and-seek, leaving us to decipher the truth from the fiction.
