What would it look like if Ron DeSantis used Hillary’s 2016 template in 2024? He would begin by paying off tech companies with government contracts to spy on Joe Biden’s private home servers. Why not? His lawyers would send law-enforcement officials a thick folder of largely dubious and fabricated evidence — paid for by the RNC and fluffed with Russian disinformation. He would spark media hysteria and investigation into Biden’s presidential campaign. Call it “unsavory political opposition research,” if you must.
Don’t worry about misleading the FBI and CIA about the sources of your “evidence.” If DeSantis were to lose, his allies would be armed with enough ammunition to publicly delegitimize the election by ginning up a new Red Scare and accusing the opposition party of sedition. Oh, the congressional investigations we’d enjoy!
And if DeSantis happened to win, his DOJ could withhold contradictory evidence to begin spying on those in Biden’s orbit or even government officials. Don’t fret if nearly every FISA-warrant application used to ferret out this illusory traitorous were based on “fabricated” evidence and riddled with errors. DeSantis officials, even if they had no genuine role in counterintelligence operations, could unmask Biden’s allies and then leak misleading snippets to conservative media outlets. There is no extrajudicial abuse that isn’t wholly justified when you’re pretending to save democracy, right?
Just ask Joe Scarborough or Chris Cillizza or the New York Times.