228 Comments
User's avatar
JT's avatar

Any FBI agent who takes the 5th in response to DOJ questions should be fired on the spot! If they can't answer a question for fear of incriminating themselves, they have no right being members of any law enforcement organization...IMHO!

Mayor's avatar

It’s either the 5th, or “I can’t recall.”

JT's avatar

Yup...worked for HRC

JBell's avatar

And Comey .....

Verve's avatar

The whole integrity scaffolding created by the constitution and the 10 Commandments started corroding in the 60s and now it's just crumbled to the ground. I guess not that anybody cares, but all this focus on Swalwell and his dastardly behavior, nobody is talking about his wife of 10 years or that he's married and has 3 children. Imagine his kids and what they're going through as well as his wife. I remember one interview where he said oh I talked to her about it and she's OK with it and forgives me. She's probably stuck and can't leave even if she wanted to. There is a story in there about the destruction of the family that needs to be told. Not even the more conservative outlets cover it.

nancy's avatar

They are in the process of divorce. Once again the kids will be affected.

Lori's avatar
1hEdited

Booyah. Could not happen to a nicer guy. He should have thought about his kids before he sent dick pics to women including sedating and raping one. No mercy.

Lori's avatar
1hEdited

Too bad, so not sad for Swellwell as he sends dick pics to women. If his wife was ignorant enough to marry the bastard and spread for him, she and the kids will have to suffer for it. No mercy for him. He is disgusting. She can divorce him and take him for all he has and fight that he does not see the kids with his stinking hands that reek of downtown odors.

Oh, she can also pull a Lorena Bobbitt on him. She has many choices.

Verve's avatar
43mEdited

I'm going to go out on a limb Lori and say that you probably don't know his wife at all and you don't know what the backstory is. If we all went around telling people that they deserve what they get and have to "suffer" for it because they're ignorant, that's a pretty harsh street that you live on. We all know that marriage is a crapshoot. Most of us do the best we can with what we have. We are not even guaranteed tomorrow.

Lori's avatar

You are perhaps correct. Maybe not just ignorant but ignorant and being a gold digger wanting to be married to a US rep with hopes of him being a future senator or Pres and not having to work who had kids quick to secure her hold on him. My bad on not considering that possibility the first time.

Sure, you go out on a limb, your neck not mine. Sticking by what I said. You sound like a libtard defending whatever the foul backstory is. Or perhaps this hits home for you and what you went through. That's your story and this is his. Either way, Swellwell is a POS and imagine what his kids may turn out like with his DNA.

My street is not harsh at all with very lovely trees, hummingbirds and gorgeous flowers. Your street is named Enablement Drive. I don't make excuses, apologies or give mercy to foul, lying, liberal bastards who plan to ruin America. But hey, if you want to, go right ahead. LOL. No thanks.

P.S. Since you feel so moved and involved with their family along with their welfare, why not send Mrs. Swellwell a parting gift for her divorce. Such a nice touch that would be and perhaps a book for the sons on how to be a good citizens and fathers.

Sue Rosenthal's avatar

Wow 😮😂😂. And true

Benjamin Two N's's avatar

It entirely depends.

They can plead the 5th during a criminal probe because they have those rights. As far as an internal review for policy violations, etc they can't.

They don't lose their constitutional rights because they're a gov employee.

Justin's avatar

They may not lose their constitutional rights as a government employee, BUT pleading the 5th destroys any credibility and trust that they may have had.

David Nelson's avatar

In any case there is no constitutional right to a government job.

Benjamin Two N's's avatar

It's a normal part of criminal investigations. Trump pled the 5th like 400 times.

Constitution applies to us all.

Justin's avatar

And for that he lost any credibility or trust that he may have had with many people too. As anyone who pleads the 5th does. It's a tacit admission of guilt.

DaveL's avatar

It’s not a tacit admission of guilt, sorry.

Justin's avatar
1hEdited

It is to me and many others, and even some judges, as Jeff mentioned in this article. Sorry.

Robird's avatar

Thanks, great information to share. I was puzzled how a Federal employee doing their job could invoke a Fifth Amendment claim.

So it would seem they had some awareness that their activity could be illegal at the time the search was conducted.

Benjamin Two N's's avatar

Could be justified, could not be. I didn't really read into it. Might be fireable if it's an internal investigation. If they're dirty cops they should be fired and charged.

The rule is called "Garrity" and there's a court case about it, I believe Garrity v US.

Steelhands's avatar

Members of the military give up constitutional rights and agree to justice via the UCMJ.

Lori's avatar

or fired on with bullets on the spot. I take this choice please.

David Roberts's avatar

IIRC, anyone involved in those raids has already been fired. Seems like they’re just hauling them back in for questioning. I could be wrong though.

Words Beyond Me-Janice Powell's avatar

✝️✝️✝️

Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and were burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

— Acts 19:18-20 LSB

✝️✝️✝️

Bard Joseph's avatar

"the fundraising giant “took 40-some million dollars that came into ActBlue from foreign origins.”

Sounds anti semantic.

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

Those who complain that the two parties are the same as in a "uniparty," or that elections don't matter need to just STOP. Without Trump's win (millions of voters in 31 states) our government would absolutely have been overthrown. We came so close to losing our republic. See? Voting DOES matter.

FrankInFL's avatar

It used to be true that, as George Wallace once opined, "ain't a dime's wuth' o' difference 'tween 'em", However, the Republican Party of which he spoke no longer exists. It has been assimilated, Borg-fashion, by the MAGA Party that merely retained the old name.

The work of clearing out the old Uniparty RINOs continues apace.

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

I can only add that the Dems aren't the same party they used to be either. It's become a lunatic asylum with cowards who still think they run it.

FH's avatar

Mary Ann, We continue to be close to losing our republic. (Your comment had that reference as if it currently is not, am sure unintentional yet readers might think crisis is over.)

Conservative voters must overwhelm the polls in November. True the Vote is the best source for ensuring the greatest chance your vote will count.

Kim's avatar

Yes, check out True the Vote website, known for their 2,000 mules documentary, for August 19 interview.

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

I said "voting DOES matter." It's the only thing that does. Along with conservatives showing up in November, we also need a better educated citizen. I'm shocked that so many people can't name their congressional representative, the vice president, their senators, their governor, don't know how many branches of government are in the federal government, have not read the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. Yes, we are still close to losing our Republic, but it's a helluva lot safer now since the border is secure, we're removing illegal aliens, and so many corruption scandals have been exposed. There is not a reader of C&C who can imagine we're out of the woods yet, other than the trolls I suppose.

FrankInFL's avatar

Well, yes, voting does (or should) matter, but the only reason it does -- if it does -- is that there are an estimated 750 Million guns and 200 Billion rounds of ammunition in civilian hands in this country. If that ever becomes 'untrue', then voting will no longer matter.

Steve Stevens's avatar

Today’s Republican Party is more establishment/US Chamber of Commerce than MAGA. MAGA got a secure border -for now- but the price we had to pay was more corporate welfare!😡

Kim's avatar

Voting absolutely matters! So does voter ID along with paper ballots and electronic machines that cannot be manipulated! 2020 was stollen. We all saw it! Will 2026 be stollen also with all the DSA candidates swept into office? We saw LA's mayor race! We are a breath away from losing our republic. Republicans and all who value their liberty must vote and encourage as many people they know to vote also.

Nikki (Gayle) Nicholson's avatar

Good morning C &Cers may God watch over us always ♥️🇺🇸

Ruth's avatar

What if you asked all these people taking the Fifth, “What pronouns do you use?”

CStone's avatar

Ruth, that would be brilliant!!!

ViaVeritasVita's avatar

"On the advice of counsel...."

Ryan Gardner's avatar

Can you name one crime DJT committed that wasn't at best a process crime?

nancy's avatar

Go away, Msnbc & CNN misses you.

Benjamin Two N's's avatar

Sorry facts are offensive to the small brained.

Everyone has the right to not self incriminate themselves. it's a basic constitutional right.

Even FBI agents and shady Trump approved NIH directors...

Arnold C Fossen's avatar

Blind haters have to hate blindly.

Politico Phil's avatar

Speaking of facts, how's that war going for you?

Reelin’ In The Fears's avatar

Get another booster jab retard.

VikingMom's avatar

I would assume that some people are complaining that nothing will actually come of the Swalwell raid/seizures because they are still waiting for something to come from the seizures of the Awan brothers' computers, Anthony Weinar's laptop, Hunter Biden's laptop, Seth Rich's cell phone/laptop...shall I go on?

Let's just say that Congressional hearings done by the House Oversight Committee have a long and storied past of being long on fiery rhetoric and woefully short on actual prosecutions! Still waiting for some action on Fast & Furious and the murder of CBP Agent Brian Terry, IRS Targeting of TEA party members, Benghazi...again, shall I go on?

Skeptical Actuary's avatar

I'm hopeful, but far from confident, that he'll be charged.

John Boy West's avatar

Agreed, but Swalwell has no friends on either side of the aisle. Even honey pot Fang Fang has disappeared, so he may be a throw away item to appease the whiners. Destroying your reputation is generally all we can hope for. Mueller? Mueller?

Todd's avatar

Today is my parents' 57th wedding anniversary. Born 53 weeks later.

LeadCPA's avatar

Sounds like they knew what they wanted. Congrats to them!

Nikki (Gayle) Nicholson's avatar

Happy birthday Todd, blessings to you ♥️

ViaVeritasVita's avatar

Nice. Your parents are just 34 months ahead of us! But we had to wait 6 years for our first baby. It's all good.

Deb's avatar

Happy Birthday Blessings to you!

Primum non nocere's avatar

I find the duality of being able to take the 5th for criminal acts based on Constitutional protection and yet being mandated to inject stuff into you body is just something the State can demand of you quite ironic. As if the Declared Rights of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness are derived from said State in spite of the fact the derivation of such Rights are not specifically noted in the Constitution.

I guess the Declaration of Independence does not apply to the current Deep State running our government. My bad

william howard's avatar

right - anyone taking the 5th should be fired, mandatory house arrest, and forced to wear a mask for the rest of their life

Primum non nocere's avatar

So if someone was aware of a bioweapon being released and took the 5th, then could Public Health override the 5th Amendment right and compel the person to provide the info?

That was EXACTLY what was done by Public Health during the plandemic.

If you have an absolute protection against self incrimination (self harm), then you have an equally absolute protection from being forced to be injected by the State with a product that is legally deemed "unavoidably unsafe" (self harm)... vis a vis all vaccines.

Lori's avatar
2hEdited

Just a friendly reminder: AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association is on ActBlue but NOT on any conservative platform. Most vets are blue pilled and I wonder what they do to pets when they know the owner is conservative. Remember this gem from gay veterinarian and activist Chris Rispoli from Gentle Care Animal Hospital posted on his clinic's FB page when Charlie was killed: "Charlie Kirk, right wing stupid f*** maga activist shot un alived on Utah campus," "He is only the first! Could we actually be getting smart and culling the sick ones? Oh gosh, I want to offer his family my 'thoughts and prayers'!!" And the memes after that last sentence were all hands with middle fingers up in the air with many exclamation points after them. The clinic was closed down bc of his disgusting existence. The AVMA never gave him any pushback nor reprimanded him in any way. BEWARE OF YOUR VETERINARIANS. Know your vet and vet them well.

YourGalapagosGullfriend's avatar

Ooof. Even if I were liberal, I wouldn't want someone so hateful taking care of my pet.

Lori's avatar

Boom. You have no idea how awful many of the board and members of the AVMA are.

Nikki (Gayle) Nicholson's avatar

Lori wow, didn't know that, but I only post a few things and than get off of fb. It really is too traumatizing to see the death of our country, and evil joy in it.

Lori's avatar

Yes it is Nikki.

JollyLittlePerson's avatar

You would think someone would notice the bit about "self incrimination" in the Fifth Amendment.

It's not meant to be an excuse to stay quiet just because you feel like it, or claim a sore throat or a bad day...

Skeptical Actuary's avatar

Fauci taking the fifth on questions like "What color is your tie?" is possibly grounds for contempt charges. I don't know if anyone has been successfully prosecuted yet for that, though.

DaveL's avatar

He’s probably thinking “bring it on” because no DC court will ever prosecute him. Sad but true.

JollyLittlePerson's avatar

Yes, Skeptical Actuary, taking the Fifth on the color of his tie shows he was personally contemptuous of the Senators, the process, and the public. It's probably not what he will get punished for, even if he ever gets punished for anything.

David Nelson's avatar

It's time for the Supreme Court to "illuminate" the concept of "contempt" in connection with invocation of the Fifth Amendment.

Juju's avatar
20mEdited

I’ve been thinking, we should have a law that excludes the ability to take the fifth when it is in regard to government service roles. When you accept the appointment or the elected position to work on behalf of the people, you forfeit your right to ever plead the fifth to any investigation/inquiry relating to your duties or anything connected to what you heard or saw in your role. It would not remove your constitutional right to not incriminate yourself for any other matters unrelated to the work of the People.

The People have a right to answers and to the truth about what happens in our government. Nobody should have the right to hide behind the fifth in that respect. If you’re not guilty of anything, then answering questions truthfully about your government job/contract/appointment will not harm you. But if you were a turd bucket with our resources and information, then you should not be allowed protection of the fifth

David Nelson's avatar

I'd like to think this covers all scenarios, but I'm immediately reminded that truly evil people come to power now and again. #joebiden

I have however always wondered: what scenarios--exactly--did the framers have in mind when they conceived the 5th Amendment? But not knowing any, I'm still willing to bet they were right to insist it is for Every citizen. But I do hear you. However, "the right to know things" is one of those things that is trumped by someone else's right.

GregWA's avatar

You're right, Jeff, there is progress to report. But unless I see this leading to the frog-marching of at least 1000 deep staters, led by Obama, Clinton, Soros, and all their handlers and enablers (big, truly BIG money), I don't think anything will change.

They will just wait out Trump, like the Iranians, and keep up the same show with Vance or Rubio, or whoever is next. Or they will just outright steal it again and install AOC in the White House.

You are in the trenches, reading the NYT for us (thank you!), but I'm not, so the trench warfare successes are harder to place in the context of the War.

Alice Ball's avatar

I get it GregWA, but I’m far more positive about it all bc I look at Trump 2.0 as a glorious team, all pulling on the same rope. Act Blue is DONE. SPLC is DONE. USAID is DONE. Iran is hugely crippled and Bessent will put them away & crush what’s left of their economy. All of this is MAJOR stuff I never thought we’d see. Because it has never been done before—-and that’s because there has never been in history a conspiracy to overthrow the US govt like the one led by Obama & crew & the globalists and Deep State. Be patient. Read this and pray for this result:

https://jameshowardkunstler.substack.com/p/remember-the-names?r=yyzmm&utm_medium=ios

DaveL's avatar

Dream on…wish it were true.

Nikki (Gayle) Nicholson's avatar

GregWA- I think that when and if obama, clintons, soros etc, get arrested/socially terminated the dems will incite a civil war. I think Trump is trying to prevent this from happening. Just a thought. A civil war will bring out even more enemies to see America die.

Steve Stevens's avatar

Trump has already given Clinton a pass, so unless he changes his mind you won’t be seeing Clinton doing any frog -marching.

Reelin’ In The Fears's avatar

Her punishment is waking up everyday knowing that her obituary will never contain the words “former President”.

Steve Stevens's avatar

People wanted justice, as in “locked up”. Instead, after he was elected, we got “ I don’t want to hurt them,” he said, referring to the Clintons. “They’re good people.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-donald-trump-60-minutes-20161114-story.html

M. Patrick McCrary's avatar

Conservatives say nothing ever happens because the legacy media ultimately determines the narrative in this country so unless they say something is happening, most low information voters believe it so the swing vote, i.e., independents and moderates, are not getting the memo therefore the midterms may be at risk.

MaryAnnTexanInArizona's avatar

I am one of those, but little by little I think people are waking up, we must pray it's enough.

Margot Wooster's avatar

I don’t think it actually depends on “enough people waking up”; I think it is a question of timing and every piece being put into place before the big kaboom.

Skeptical Actuary's avatar

I'm hopeful President Trump can successfully implement election measures after declaring a national emergency.

Robird's avatar

I disagree, the national emergency declared for Covid resulted in significant violation of Constitutional Rights. Allowing a President to declare an emergency to avoid the legislative process, as messy and frustrating as it is, would be dangerous to the fundamental structure of the US Republic.

Margot Wooster's avatar

Just because a tool can be used for evil does not mean it cannot also be used for good. It may be necessary to save our country.

DaveL's avatar

Like, invalidate all the votes in Texas because the stupid Wall is so aggravating that people will vote for Talarico who wouldn’t have otherwise? And create a Democrat majority in the Senate.

Politico Phil's avatar

I think that MAY come but it might not be until the 2028 election... if we have one.

FrankInFL's avatar

Happy 80th birthday to my wife who, despite being a rabid foaming-at-the-mouth Leftist, still loves me as do I her.

Verve's avatar

My flabbers are gasted! 😂 yours was the hippie generation of love, peace, free sex, pot smoking and sticking it to the man and so on and so forth. My generation had to pick up the pieces on that and explain to our kids, why their grandparents rebelled against *their* more straightlaced parents who were of the World War II generation. I'm generation Jones, and I just want everybody to get along. All the best to you and your wife… Let us pray…😃😂🙏💕

FrankInFL's avatar

I was always a Libertarian and something of a hawk when it was fashionable to spit on returning VN vets; so was she. I tell people that it took me 35 years before I began to understand what Peter, Paul, & Mary were singing about.

https://dispatchesfromheck.blogspot.com/2016/04/our-patriotic-duty.html

FG Wren's avatar

Verve, not all of us were hippies. I will be 80 in two months. Born and raised in So. Calif. Worked from age 14 and still working. Local college and married at 19 with two kids by 23. Never met a hippie that I know of. None of my friends or family were hippies and we were all appalled at the treatment of the VN vets (I lost friends in VN). Father WWII vet and very R. I still don't know anyone who was a hippie and never really thought about them. Voted D (didn't follow politics) until after Carter mistake. Hear comments like yours often but all we were doing was trying to do was take care of our family and improve our lives.

Roger Beal's avatar

Trump's DOJ: A prosecutorial merry-go-round whacking leftards with each revolution.

THAT is what I voted for.

Reelin’ In The Fears's avatar

Roger that Roger. Any relation to Howard?😁

Matt L.'s avatar

You have meddled with the primal forces of Nature!

“I have seen the face of God”

Roger Beal's avatar

Sone days I feel like his twin brother ...

Skeptical Actuary's avatar

I have a new substack regarding the contrast between reactions to the Lindsay Clancy case vs Andrea Shaw's case.

https://skepticalactuary1348.substack.com/p/lindsey-clancy-and-andrea-yates-a

Brief summary: liberals support Lindsey Clancy strongly, but think Andrea Shaw is a monster, even though Andrea Shaw almost certainly did not kill her children - there's a decent amount of evidence they died of "SIDS".