Monday morning schadenfreude: The rats are scattering scared

CNN posted a story which is so good, it needs a full blog post about it:

A Wednesday raid by federal agents of an apartment and office belonging to former New York City mayor and one-time Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has left allies of the former President feeling uneasy about what could come next, according to sources close to Trump.

“This was a show of force that sent a strong message to a lot of people in Trump’s world that other things may be coming down the pipeline,” one Trump adviser told CNN.

It gets better:

According to the Trump adviser, the raid ignited a sense of fear inside the former President’s orbit that Justice Department officials may be more willing to pursue investigations of the 45th president or his inner circle than many Trump allies had previously believed.

And then, what is unspoken is finally uttered:

But the raid has also raised the question of whether Giuliani’s seemingly steadfast loyalty to Trump could withstand the weight of potential criminal charges. Giuliani has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

“Even the most loyal people have their breaking point,” said a person close to the former President. The Trump adviser separately added that a potential shift in Giuliani’s fealty to his former client “wouldn’t shock me at all.”

I think I've made it clear that I'm not a pacifist. I'm not a let-bygones-be-bygones. I will, eventually, move on, but only after consequences have been meted out. The one hundred-day-old Biden Administration has exceeded even my rather lofty expectations. The general consensus had been that the administration wouldn't pursue the Trump regime with any alacrity, leaving it up to state and local authorities exact justice. But it's obviously clear that a new calculus is at hand. Everyone involved in the Trump regime traduced the Republic, its laws, its ideals, with every act they took, from the former guy down to the bottom. And they really did think they would escape any fallout. They thought they'd be able to pick up their lives, continue to undermine the country, and plot for their return to power. And, considering history, they had every reason to expect this to be so.

Then January 6th happened. After that, everything went out the window; they just didn't realize it. Their actions precipitated the first insurrection against the government since 1861. It wasn't going to be enough for the new Justice Department to go after the insurrectionists; it would have to do a root and branch cleaning. The rioters need to be punished; but those who instigated them, led them, fed them lies, also need to face legal recrimination, if not more so. The raid on Rudy Giuliani's apartment was a shot across the bow. No one is safe from investigation and prosecution. Not Giuliani. And not Trump.

Just like I'm not a pacifist, I also am not a hypocrite. I delight in the downfall of my enemies. The next few months will alter this country's trajectory. Those who served and led the former guy's regime are about to go through some things. It will be a salutary lesson to would-be right wing insurgents: you will face retribution. We'll move on once justice obtains.