For years, a new set of rules has governed the brutal, zero-sum game of American politics. It’s a playbook written by those who mastered the art of “lawfare”—the strategic use of legal investigations and government power not just to defeat, but to destroy political opponents. The FBI raid, the pre-dawn knock, the public shaming, and the crushing financial burden of a federal investigation became normalized tactics, cheered on by a partisan media as righteous pursuits of justice. But on a quiet morning, that playbook was turned against one of its own, and the resulting meltdown has exposed a level of hypocrisy so profound it has shaken the very foundations of our political discourse.
The FBI raid on the home of John Bolton, former National Security Advisor, should have been a straightforward story about accountability. Here was a man who, after leaving the Trump administration, “cashed in” by publishing a tell-all book that many believed contained classified information. In a nation that values the rule of law, investigating whether a high-level official mishandled sensitive national security secrets is not just reasonable; it’s necessary. Yet, the reaction from many in the mainstream media and the Democratic establishment was not a sober call for due process. It was a five-alarm fire of outrage, a chorus of voices crying that a sacred line had been crossed.
Suddenly, the very same pundits who had spent years championing the Russia investigation, celebrating every indictment, and treating every FBI leak as gospel were wringing their hands about the weaponization of the justice system. On CNN, anchors like Abby Phillip expressed grave concern over the political implications of such a raid, a sentiment that was conspicuously absent when the targets had different political affiliations. This sudden, selective outrage is the crux of the issue. It’s not about the raid on John Bolton; it’s about the glaring double standard that has been laid bare for all to see.
As commentator Greg Gutfeld bluntly put it, “Don’t lecture me on timing of lawfare… You guys invented this stuff.” This is the “political karma” that many are now seeing come to fruition. The tactics that were once celebrated are now being decried simply because the target has changed. For years, we were told that no one is above the law as long as they were in Trump’s orbit. We watched as individuals were dragged through the mud, their careers and finances ruined, often on the flimsiest of pretenses. The infamous Obama IRS targeting scandal, where conservative and Tea Party groups were systematically harassed, was an early sign of this trend. The Russia “hoax,” a multi-year investigation that consumed the nation and ultimately found no evidence of collusion, set the precedent that a political narrative could be sustained by the process of investigation itself, regardless of the outcome.
The personal cost of this kind of political warfare is immense. As Scott Jennings, a former official in the George W. Bush administration, explained, the moment you are connected to a federal investigation, your life is turned upside down. The legal bills can be astronomical, your reputation is tarnished, and your career can be permanently derailed, even if you are never charged with a crime. There is a world of difference between being called to testify and having your home raided by the FBI. The latter signals a level of criminal jeopardy that is designed to intimidate and destroy.
This is the playbook that was written, perfected, and normalized over the past decade. It’s a strategy of projection, where one side accuses the other of the very tactics they are employing. They decry “retribution” and “political persecution” while ignoring their own history of using the levers of government to settle political scores. The impeachment of Donald Trump over his handling of Ukraine, not the Russia investigation, is another example of how the goalposts can be moved to fit a political narrative.
Now, with the raid on John Bolton, the architects of this new era of political combat are forced to confront the monster they helped create. They are learning the hard way that when you normalize the use of extraordinary government power against your enemies, you cannot be surprised when those same tactics are eventually used against you. The media’s sudden concern for norms and precedent rings hollow to millions of Americans who have watched those same norms be eroded for years with their full-throated approval.
This isn’t about defending John Bolton or any single political figure. It is about demanding a single, consistent standard of justice. The outrage should not be dependent on whose ox is being gored. The weaponization of our legal system is a danger to our republic, regardless of who is wielding the weapon. The Bolton raid is a critical inflection point. It is a chance for a moment of collective reflection on how far we have strayed from the principle of equal justice under the law. Until the media and our political leaders can apply their principles consistently, their cries of hypocrisy will continue to be met with the same response: you built this.
