Operation Revenge (Part I)

Payback's a [W]itch

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[Part I of a two-part series on a possible Trump counterstrike against the Deep State.]

Is Donald Trump sharpening his blade?

Almost two weeks after Trump's sham conviction at the hands of Communist-Democrats, signs suggest that the faux felon and his MAGA brigades are preparing to counterattack, if they win the White House in November.

One of the latest indicators came during a June 6 interview with TV personality, Dr. Phil (McGraw), when Trump seemed to hint that he may go after his enemies, if reelected.

"You're fighting this fight, and standing up for the rights of due process and fighting against prosecutorial misconduct," Dr. Phil observed in his discussion with the former president.

"There are headlines out there that say when you win your second term, that you are going to make the people who have come after you pay — retribution and revenge. ... What if, when you win this election, you said, 'I'm not going to play this gotcha retribution game — it stops now.' ... What if you took that approach?" he asked.

"I'm OK with it," Trump replied. "The word 'revenge' is a very strong word, but maybe we have revenge through success."

Continuing, Dr. Phil quoted Pope Francis, saying, "We are all brothers and sisters, and there must be no resentment among us for any war to truly end. Forgiveness is necessary; otherwise what will follow is not justice, but revenge."

"I think you have so much to do, you don't have time to get even," he added. "You only have time to get right."

Trump's response, though cryptic, was telling. "Well, revenge does take time. I will say that," he replied. "And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil — I have to be honest. You know, sometimes it can."

Presuming a MAGA victory on Nov. 5, all options are on the table, it seems, to bring Deep State agents to justice.

Those on the Right sense it, as evidenced by certain plans for a second Trump term that are gathering pace.

Those on the Left sense it, too, as breathless headlines warning of a looming Trump dictatorship demonstrate.

Whatever Trump's response may be, and however one may view it — whether as the pursuit of justice or as the exacting of revenge — the fact is that those who have worked for years to destroy the former president may soon find themselves called to account for their transgressions.

An Existential Threat

For tens of millions of Americans, the May 30 bogus verdict was a proverbial line in the sand.

Myriad Republicans, Libertarians, Independents — and even some Democrats — recognize that Biden's crucifixion of Trump signals a turning point in the life of the Republic, and that if it goes unanswered, the United States is finished.

As such, there appears to be considerable support for holding Biden and his henchmen accountable, even if this entails political payback of some kind. In fact, though they do not relish this prospect, many Americans view it as unavoidable.

In the end, they understand, the battle isn't about Trump; rather, it's about every American. As Trump himself has said, "They're not after me, they're after you. I'm just in the way."

Journalist Megyn Kelly — who publicly clashed with then-candidate Trump in 2016 while she was a FOX News host— expertly captured this sentiment in the wake of the former president's conviction.

Addressing her audience shortly after the verdict was announced, Kelly declared that Democrats will pay for weaponizing the courts, and laid bare what is now at stake for the country.

"What just happened today is a line we can't uncross, and these Democrats will rue the day they decided to use lawfare to stop a presidential candidate. I'm not talking about violence," she stressed. "I'm talking about tit for tat."

"The only way to save the Republic now is to give them a taste of their own medicine. That's it. That's it. They tasted blood today. They're the wolves with the bloody piece of meat in their mouths. That doesn't stop the wolf from coming back for more. The only thing that will stop him is if he loses a limb of his own."

"Who's getting indicted next?" Kelly asked. "Joe Biden? Maybe Jill Biden? How low can we go? You may not want to see it, but that ship has already left port. That horse has left the barn. That's where we're going."

'The Enemy Within'

For his part, Trump for years has voiced disgust that top Democrats, hounded by ongoing accusations of corruption, have escaped unscathed, arguing that they should be made to answer, legally, for their dishonesty.

On Oct. 9, 2016, during the second presidential debate, Trump focused attention on opponent Hillary Clinton's still-fresh email scandal, sparking an infamous exchange.

"If I win," he warned Clinton: "I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there's never been so many lies, so much deception."

Clinton bristled at the threat. "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," she said.

"Because you'd be in jail," Trump retorted, triggering boisterous applause from the audience.

Similarly, while campaigning in June 2023, the former president took aim at Joe Biden and his family who, for years, have been dogged by accusations of criminality over business dealings involving Ukraine and China — to say nothing of the notorious scandal surrounding "Hunter's laptop."

Speaking to supporters in New Jersey, Trump vowed to bring the Bidens to justice. "I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of America, Joe Biden, and go after the Biden crime family," he said.

While such displays have long been a part of Trump's political playbook, following the May 30 verdict, the former president and his MAGA allies have dramatically escalated calls for political accountability — even reprisals — for unscrupulous Democrats out for blood.

In an address the day after his conviction, Trump blasted the rot that has infected the nation's political institutions.

"We are dealing with a corrupt government. We have a corrupt country. Our elections are corrupt," he said.

Slamming his persecutors as anti-American, Trump noted, "They are not on the side of our country. In many ways, I think they hate our country."

In his first post-conviction interview, which aired on June 2, the former president indicated that retribution could, indeed, be on the table if he recaptures the Oval Office in November.

Speaking with "Fox & Friends Weekend" hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy, Will Cain and Pete Hegseth, Trump warned that America is being undermined by "the enemy within."

"They are doing damage to this country," he lamented, especially through the "weaponization of the Justice Department, of the FBI."

"A lot of Democrats have expressed concern that if you're elected, you're going to want revenge," Campos-Duffy noted, asking the former president whether he would respond in kind, if reelected, and engage in "mutually-assured destruction."

"It's a really tough question, in one way, because these are bad people — these people are sick, and they do things that are so destructive," Trump replied. "It sounds beautiful, right? You know, my revenge will be success. And I mean that. But it's awfully hard when you see what they've done. These people are so evil."

Following up, Cain noted: "You famously said, regarding Hillary Clinton, 'Lock her up.' You declined to do that as president."

"Purposely," Trump responded. "I beat her ... and they all said 'lock her up' ... I could have done it, but I felt it would have been a terrible thing."

"And then this happened to me," he added. "And so, I may feel differently about it."

Hegseth then asked Trump about the possibility that he could be sentenced on July 11 to house arrest, or even jail.

"That could happen," Trump acknowledged. "I'm not sure the public would stand for it ... I think it'd be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there's a breaking point."

Trump doubled down in a June 4 interview with Newsmax, telling host Greg Kelly:

"It's a terrible precedent for our country. Does that mean the next president does it to them? That's really the question. ... It's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to, and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them."

Then, in an interview with Sean Hannity the following day, Trump seemed to offer a mixed message on the question of political payback.

"People are claiming you want retribution. People are claiming you want what has happened to you done to Democrats. Would you do that, ever?" Hannity asked.

"What's happened to me has never happened in this country before, and it has to stop," Trump replied. "We've become a banana republic."

Hannity pressed the former president on the issue: "Focus on those who want people to believe that you want retribution, that you will use the system of justice to go after your political adversaries."

"They're wrong — it has to stop, because otherwise we're not going to have a country," Trump answered.

But then, he added, "When this election is over, based on what they've done, I would have every right to go after them."

"I don't want to look naïve," Trump continued. "We can't let this happen. I will do everything in my power not to let it — but there's tremendous criminality, here. What they're doing to me, if it's going to continue — we're really not going to have much of a country left."

"It is weaponization," he said. "You call it lawfare, you call it — some people call it just warfare — but it is weaponization of the election."

Hornless RINOs

Not surprisingly, in the almost two weeks since Trump's phony conviction, a number of limp-wristed Republican leaders have sought to downplay the gravity of the attack on the former president.

Reticent to respond in-kind, they have tried to quell conservatives' anger at the injustice, asserting that the country's interests can best be served by swallowing the verdict whole.

These out-of-touch politicians — the usual suspects — are trying to propagate the delusion that Communist-Democrats can be trusted to "play fair" — that if we all join hands, sing Kumbaya, and focus on getting back to "normal," all will be well in the land.

For example, while describing the case against Trump as "an unjust prosecution," Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has pooh-poohed calls for political accountability.

"This is not the direction we want this country to go," Rounds said. "I think it's time for adults to take over with regard to the Senate, and it's time for adults to take over in regards [to] how we treat the judicial climate in this country."

"I don't want to see a tit for tat on prosecution. I think that's the wrong direction. I think that's the wrong path for us to go down," he added.

Instead, Rounds has suggested centrism as a solution. "I think we've got to get back to what the Founding Fathers wanted in the first place, which is a judiciary which is not full of political appointees that are hard far left or hard far right."

Likewise, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah has come out against efforts to freeze DOJ or special counsel funding in response to Trump's persecution

"The New York action was not guided by or directed by the Justice Department," Romney insisted. "So it's a misdirection. There's a different target to aim at."

"I'm not going be joining an effort to defund the Justice Department; we need to have the FBI and our Justice Department doing their jobs," he said.

Similarly, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has refused to entertain the idea of halting DOJ or special counsel funding, arguing such moves would only antagonize Democrats.

"I don't think that's a feasible or constructive approach," Sen. Collins said. "The leadership doesn't want to get drawn into any of that."

'Fight Fire With Fire'

But irate patriots are having none of it.

Instead, they're demanding that elected leaders play hardball — again, if not for Trump's sake, then for the sake of the Republic.

Slamming Joe Biden as "a demented man propped up by wicked and deranged people," Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida declared in the wake of Trump's conviction that now is the time to "fight fire with fire."

Similarly, conservative political activist and Daily Wire columnist Matt Walsh has declared his patience is at an end:

"I don't want to hear elected Republicans complaining. I don't need to see their tweets and statements condemning the verdict. The only thing I want to hear from these people is which Democrats they will have arrested. Don't tell us that you're sad about the verdict. We don't give a s*** about your feelings. We want to see corrupt Democrats frog marched on camera in handcuffs. If you won't do that, then shut up."

Likewise, US Rep. Ronny Jackson (R) of Texas has put lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on notice:

"I'm quite frankly p***** off. President Biden should be ready, because on January 20 of next year when he's former President Joe Biden … I'm going to encourage all of my colleagues and everybody that I have any influence over as a member of Congress to aggressively go after the president and his entire family, his entire crime family, for all of the misdeeds that are out there right now."

His colleague, US Rep. Mike Collins (R) of Georgia, echoed Jackson's sentiments. "Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy," he said. "Hillary Clinton's campaign-funded Steele dossier is a good start."

"The statute of limitations expired but I'm told that's not a thing anymore," Rep. Collins added.

In like manner, former Trump adviser Stephen Miller issued a post-conviction call-to-arms:

"Every facet of Republican party politics and power has to be used right now to go toe-to-toe with Marxism and beat these Communists!"

"Is every Republican AG opening investigations into voter fraud, right now?" he asked. "Is every House committee controlled by Republicans using its subpoena power in every way it needs to, right now? Is every Republican DA starting every investigation it needs to, right now?"

"The good guys," Miller warned, "must be as tough as the villains — or freedom is doomed."

Writer, editor and producer Stephen Wynne has spent the past seven years covering, from a Catholic perspective, the latest developments in the Church, the nation and the world. Prior to his work in journalism, he spent eight years co-authoring “Repairing the Breach,” a book examining the war of worldviews between Christianity and Darwinism. A Show-Me State native, he holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pepperdine University and an Executive MBA from the Bloch School of Business at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

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