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A few weeks ago, as vote tallies made clear that he would lose, The Daily Beast reported that Donald Trump was especially impatient with the Justice Department and its "seeming unwillingness to immediately intervene on Team Trump's behalf."
Referring to conspiracy theories about the election, Trump reportedly asked, "Why isn't [DOJ] on this?" It came on the heels of weeks of public lobbying in which the incumbent pressed Attorney General Bill Barr to launch pre-election prosecutions of his political opponents.
That was before the race was called for Joe Biden. The outgoing president's desperation is far more acute now, and as the Wall Street Journal noted, the Republican's whining about federal law enforcement has taken a dark turn.
President Trump accused federal law-enforcement agencies run by his own appointees of ignoring his claims of mass election fraud, as his legal setbacks continued to mount. "Missing in action," Mr. Trump said during an interview Sunday on Fox News. "You would think if you're in the FBI or Department of Justice, this is the biggest thing you could be looking at. Where are they? I've not seen anything."
That was not the end of his frustrations. On the contrary, Trump went on to suggest federal law enforcement -- led by his own appointees -- may be part of a nefarious conspiracy that only he's aware of.
"This is total fraud, and how the FBI and Department of Justice -- I don't know," the Republican told Fox News on Sunday. "Maybe they are involved."
It was 10 days ago when Trump's legal team held a press conference and described a scheme involving George Soros, "communist money," the Clinton Foundation, Venezuela, antifa, Cuba, and possibly China. Apparently, all of this also has something to do with Hugo Chavez, who's been dead for seven years.
What we did not know was that the FBI and Department of Justice might be "involved," too.
The inescapable conclusion is that Trump, left with little more than desperation, is searching in vain for those who may be just corrupt enough to help him hold onto power despite his defeat.
The Republican thought judges might follow his lead, but they've rejected Team Trump's laughable lawsuits. The president thought governors might help him overturn election results, but they've followed the law. He apparently thought the FBI and the Justice Department might come to his rescue, and when they didn't, Trump's instinct was to connect them to his ridiculous conspiracy theory -- which is apparently far easier than coming to terms with a defeat.
A Washington Post editorial, referencing Trump's weird rhetoric about federal law enforcement, added today, "Either the president is delusional, or he is willing to knowingly tear down the democracy to deny that he is a loser."
I'm not at all convinced this is an either/or situation.