When The Patriot Post team last looked at Spygate, Attorney General William Barr had appointed a tough prosecutor to look into the matter. This is a good start. The problem is that we need a lot of answers, and quickly.

Put it this way: The counterintelligence resources of the FBI and other parts of the intelligence community were turned on the presidential campaign of an opposition party to counter “collusion” that did not exist. Let’s say this again: There was NO collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

Many of the same people who condemned George W. Bush for the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime because we didn’t find stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction are now demanding that Barack Obama be given the benefit of the doubt. Umm, it seems like they are comparing apples and T-bone steaks here.

Whether or not you believe Operation Iraqi Freedom was a big mistake, it involved action against a hostile regime that sponsored terrorism and was refusing to demonstrate compliance with UN resolutions. In the aftermath of 9/11, Saddam’s removal was a prudent action, and Bush’s failure to adequately defend it was a mistake on par with his failure to rebuild and expand America’s military. Hussein did not have rights to due process from the United States government.

But the use by Obama of counterintelligence assets on domestic political opponents is a very different matter. There has to be a very high bar to be cleared with the use of clear and convincing evidence. From what we know, there wasn’t. Instead, it seems that the major source was a DNC-funded dossier from a retired British intelligence officer. Worse, we have the texts between illicit FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, which are akin to the infamous Fuhrman tapes that emerged in OJ Simpson’s murder trial in terms of casting doubt on the integrity of the investigators. We won’t even even touch the IRS scandal.

Had this pattern happened in Putin’s Russia, Erdogan’s Turkey, or Maduro’s Venezuela, we would recognize it for what it was: Hallmarks of an election that was not free and fair. We’d demand that the State Department issue harsh releases, and we’d never hear the end of it from the mainstream media. But because this was done by the Obama administration, we hear crickets. We’re told to just be quiet because there was no corruption at the IRS.

One of two things seems to be going on: Either there was a massive screw-up with no ill intentions toward Americans exercising their constitutional rights, or there was and is deliberate targeting of those who disagreed with “progressives” on political issues.

Take a long, hard look at the John Doe investigations — particularly the compelling coverage by National Review’s David French — efforts to use RICO against so-called “climate deniers”, and Andrew Cuomo’s actions against the NRA. Do those look like innocent mistakes, or were bureaucrats and government officials stepping beyond their boundaries?

The sheer weight of this tilts the preponderance of the evidence toward a misuse of power for political ends. This is why we need to come down on Spygate, find answers, and hold to account those responsible. If this isn’t halted, everything else becomes a theoretical discussion.