Lawfare Is a Catastrophe

I was hoping we'd buried lawfare with the late, unlamented Biden-Harris administration.

(Brendan McDermid, Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) Dear Friend of NR, Since he dove into electoral politics a decade ago, Donald Trump has been a one-man tsunami. I'll admit it, though: During the Biden Malaise, I'd forgotten how much Trump weeks were like dog years. He hadn't even started his second term after the November victory that capped the most stunning comeback in modern political history, and we were already spinning over DOGE, a doomed attorney general nomination, the prospect of court fights over whether the new president would try to bypass the Senate confirmation process with a loopy recess appointment scheme, and threats that hell was about to rain down on Hamas. And that was just on a Tuesday. Seriously, it has never stopped. What's also never stopped is National Review — we've been all over every hectic, occasionally hair-raising minute of it. I'm here to ask you to help us stay on top of it by contributing to our spring fundraising drive. SUPPORT NR I was hoping we'd buried lawfare with the late, unlamented Biden-Harris administration. Alas, despite the part that public discomfort with politicized prosecution played in the president's triumph, the new administration hasn't come to bury lawfare, just to praise its own version of it — all in the name of stamping it out, of course. Here's the thing, though. We're not in it for the administration, or any administration. We're NR, and our core is the principled conservatism of Burke and Reagan and Buckley. In our redoubt, lawfare is a catastrophe for the legitimacy of our judicial system and for the rule of law that undergirds a secure, prosperous, free society — no matter what party is the practitioner. So we're staying on the beat, and we need your help to do it.   It's not my favorite gig, I'll confess. The urge the president and his supporters feel to govern vengefully is only natural, even if it has to be resisted. And let's face it, they are right that there is something happening in the legal culture that needs confronting. When I was a young prosecutor, it would have been disqualifying for a candidate for district attorney or state attorney general to campaign saying, "Elect me, and I'll use the powers of the office against our political enemies." But now, in blue cities and states, that campaign is not just waged, it wins. SUPPORT NR When I was a young prosecutor, even the most ideological, "living Constitution" progressive judge cared, above all else, about getting the right legal answer. Maybe not for its own sake, but for fear of being reversed by the higher courts — a true professional embarrassment. Yet, for many modern progressive judges — and in their twelve of the last 16 years in power, Obama and Biden appointed close to two-thirds of the nation's 800-plus lower federal court judges — "getting it right" is no longer about the correct legal result. It's about derailing Trump, stopping constitutional originalism, drawing plaudits from the legacy media, and getting promoted to a higher court in the next Democratic administration. The temptation to exploit the power of incumbency to fight malfeasance on eye-for-an-eye terms is strong. It has to be resisted, not just because it's wrong in and of itself, but because it will generate precedents the Left will exploit at the next opportunity — with their media cheering them on, no matter how livid they seem today. We're here to call balls and strikes no matter who is at bat, and to encourage the new administration when it advances the conservative policies we know work for America. But we never forget that we wouldn't be here without our dedicated readers. We're thankful for that. We can't do what we do without your support. We'd appreciate any amount you can contribute. Thanks for considering, and for being there. Yours,   Andrew C. McCarthy Contributing Editor National Review SUPPORT NR No longer wish to receive NRPLUS notifications? Adjust your preferences.  NATIONAL REVIEW 19 West 44th Street, Ste. 1701 New York, NY, 10036