In a recent NY Times article,(the article may be behind a paywall) Neal Katyal and Joshua Geltzer, both law professors at Georgetown, said that “all Americans should be not just shocked but outraged” by the decision of the Justice Department to drop criminal charges against General Michael Flynn. The reason we should be shocked and outraged is not primarily about General Flynn, Rather, it is that withdrawal of the case “reflects a deeply mistaken view of American law enforcement. In this view, federal investigators and prosecutors are a deep threat to the American people.”
It is well known that the FBI tries to trap people into making damaging statements and it did so in this case. FBI agents are allowed to lie to people whom they interview, and Federal prosecutors can threaten suspects with prosecution of family members.
Such tactics pose a clear threat to our liberty, but this is of no interest to Katyal and Geltzer. Instead they are shocked that we might look at matters this way. They don’t tell us why such tactics are all right but instead stress how carefully the FBI set up the entrapment interview. Who, except extremists, could object? When I read the article, a favorite remark of my old friend Ronald Hamowy came to mind: “Are we to be spared nothing?”
2:16 pm on May 10, 2020
