The poorly written click-bait headline at the Washington Post “Trump declares himself ‘chief law enforcement officer’” complete with the scare quotes, might create the impression among the woefully ignorant who depend on their “fish wrapper” for news. The headline implies President Trump said something wrong, which begs the question:  has anybody under the age of sixty ever read the U.S. Constitution? It’s only about four pages long, written back in the day when people still produced clear and concise documents by hand. And more importantly, shouldn’t “journalists”  have a basic understanding of their subject matter if they are going to be allowed to help shape public opinion with their reporting?

The Constitution's Section 1 of Article II includes the President’s specific oath of office in the definition of his duties: ''I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' Section 3 in Article II adds, “[the President] shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.”

Are these reporters old enough to remember what Paul Begala said as Bill Clinton was signing an executive order: “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.” The concept of an executive order is very cool, actually, because of the Constitutional separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Congress passes bills. Presidents sign those bills into law or veto them. Congress may override the veto. The courts rule on whether or not those new laws are unconstitutional.

Why yes, it turns out that at least one of the two credited reporters, Pulitzer Prize-winning “investigative journalist” Beth Reinhard, was already working as a reporter when Bill Clinton was elected. She ought to know the Begala quote as well as I do. Theoretically, she should know a lot more about politics than I do. So why has she allowed her name to be associated with that headline?

Once Congress has made a law, it becomes the duty of the president to see that law enforced. Barack Obama was famous for his selective enforcement of federal laws, especially those pertaining to illegal immigration. He called cops “dumb” and routinely interfered with justice in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, and contributed to racial tensions after the death of Michael Brown by sending Eric Holder to Ferguson, implying that the local criminal justice system wouldn’t give Officer Darren Wilson a fair trial because they might find him innocent of the charges. Wilson was innocent. Brown was killed in self-defense.

Yes, Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former Democratic governor Rod Blagojevich and commented on the ridiculous sentencing requests of prosecutors in the Roger Stone case. So what? Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Presidents are given this authority by the Constitution. The question isn’t whether or not POTUS has the authority as granted by the Constitution -- he absolutely does. The question that usually arises in the case of a pardon is the motive behind it. Why did Gerald Ford pardon Richard Nixon? My best guess is because no U.S. president in history has ever been convicted of a crime and sent to prison after leaving office, and he didn’t want to set the precedent.

Perhaps Ford made a mistake by setting the wrong precedent. Nobody should be considered above the law, and Nixon broke the law by obstructing justice. Bill Clinton also broke the law when he committed perjury. If the chief law enforcement officer in the U.S. cannot even be trusted to tell the truth in a court of law, how can any regular citizen be prosecuted for perjury if their lies are allegedly told under oath only to avoid personal embarrassment?

The concept of equal justice under the law is crucial to our republic.  President Trump was absolutely right to challenge the sentencing guidelines for Roger Stone because there are many of us “citizen journalists” who might never get considered for the Pulitzer Prize but know enough about politics in Washington to mention the name of James A. Wolfe when talking about double standards for punishment of malfeasance -- a recommended sentence of seven-nine years versus two months, when Wolfe was guilty of more serious crimes?

Not to mention that Andrew McCabe was not even prosecuted, and the general public is now forced to listen to him whine about his conspiratorial actions having consequences on CNN, if trapped in an airport or the home of a liberal relative. Some of us haven’t forgotten that McCabe’s wife was taking money from Terry McAuliffe to run as a Democrat for the Virginia state senate in 2015. Andrew McCabe lacks a lot more than candor -- he also lacks integrity and the self-awareness to realize that his position at the FBI wasn’t nearly as important to the future of the United States as Donald Trump’s presidency is. During Obama’s presidency, James Comey turned the Federal Bureau of Investigation into a Federal Bureau of Incompetence, and Eric Holder turned the Department of Justice into a Department of Injustice. Got an “R” next to your name? The feds will throw the book at you. Got a “D”?  You’ll get a slap on the wrist.

American patriots are beyond frustrated. We are tired of seeing Democrat politicians figuratively get away with murder and literally escape justice when guilty of negligent homicide. We are tired of blaming incompetence of such epic proportions that the Keystone Kops look like a well-trained, professional paramilitary unit by comparison. When Mueller’s team wanted Paul Manafort to provide evidence against Donald Trump, they locked him in solitary confinement as if he was the worst-of-the-worst among criminals. When they wanted to intimidate Roger Stone, they sent a small army of heavily armed cops to arrest him at dawn. But when everybody and their brother knew that Jeffrey Epstein had serious dirt on politicians like Bill Clinton, somehow Epstein managed to “commit suicide” while in custody. It’s difficult to hold onto faith that justice will ultimately prevail, and the truth will become public knowledge one day.

We waited patiently, but Michael Horowitz only told us what we already knew. He didn’t explain how the most powerful law enforcement agency in America became so blatantly corrupted that multiple FISA warrants would be sworn against employees of an incoming president based on fraudulent information, and even three years later, none of the conspirators have faced punishment. All hopes for justice in the conspiracy against Donald Trump seems to rest on John Durham, appointed by A.G. Barr on May 13, 2019.

While we’ve been waiting for justice, the nation has experienced a sham impeachment and the justified acquittal of President Trump. Yet most Americans remain ignorant of the coup attempt launched against him before he was even sworn into office.

Yes, America. President Donald J. Trump is the chief law enforcement officer in the United States, not because it is his opinion, but because the Constitution says he is, just as Nixon, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and every other elected president has been. That’s never really been any doubt about that fact for anyone who has taken a civics class in high school or political science in college.

The question is, can the chief law enforcement officer in the U.S. get equal justice under the law for his political enemies, or will they be allowed to escape the consequences for deliberately trying to undermine his administration before he even took office?

John Leonard writes novels, books, and articles/blogs for American Thinker. You may find him on Facebook or his website at southernprose.com. His books are available here.