Expert Says Democrats Could Use Civil Asset Forfeiture Against Trump

President Donald Trump and his administration have engaged in so much corruption, Democrats are going to have to engage in blunt force tactics in order to hold them accountable, at least according to one expert.

Speaking on Monday, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick suggested that voters will likely not be satisfied with mere hearings.

They don’t want subpoenas and lawyer up for subpoenas’ and lawyer up’s sake, Lithwick stated.

According to Lithwick’s writing, the primary goal of oversight is bringing corrupt practices to light so the electorate can react accordingly.

The corrupt behavior is known, the voters responded to it, and so now, what those oversight committees need to do is go get the money back, Lithwick reported.

Lithwick remarked that the past couple of years have featured an unprecedented wave of corruption and self-enrichment by the president, his relatives, and his associates at the expense of the American public.

The American taxpayers are entitled to get that money back, Lithwick added.

Lithwick pointed out that the U.S. essentially provided the president with an unconstitutional, unprecedented shield of immunity following the flawed Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. U.S., making future Jack Smith-style criminal prosecutions highly improbable.

The president’s already said he’s going to pardon everybody on the way out the door, Lithwick noted.

So let’s set criminal accountability aside for a minute, Lithwick wrote.

Lithwick pointed out that despite pardons and criminal immunity, a future attorney general can still pursue unjust enrichment claims against those ill-gotten gains.

They cannot protect ill-gotten gains from civil asset forfeiture claims brought by a future attorney general, Lithwick added.

The respected journalist is not alone in calling for tough tactics by the newly-empowered congressional Democrats.

Writing for AlterNet in October, liberal commentator and former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, made a comparable point.

Reich noted that if Democrats take back Congress, they must address both the symptoms—like high prices—and their underlying roots.

It will be impossible to do the former without attacking the latter, Reich added.

Reich stated that lawmakers must overhaul campaign finance rules to curb big money’s sway in politics, alongside halting Trump’s conflict and arbitrary tariffs.

One method would be to match public financing with small-dollar donations, Reich noted.

Reich argued that they will also need to restore accountability mechanisms dismantled by Trump, including the independent civil service, independent inspectors general, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Federal Election Commission.

Under Trump and his Republican enablers, the richest Americans and biggest corporations have made out like bandits, Reich stated.

Average working Americans are paying dearly for what the bandits have stolen, Reich wrote.

The grift and the graft must end, Reich concluded.