The Lincoln Logue | Enemies of the State, Starring Everyone
The FBI films like Netflix, the Smithsonian edits like MAGA, and Bolton learns what happens when you arm a maniac.
Every corner of American power was bent toward performance this week. The FBI didn’t just carry out arrests — it did so with White House cameramen in tow, producing glossy clips of raids designed less for the courts than for Trump’s feed. Museums weren’t spared either: the Smithsonian is now under ideological review, accused of being too honest about slavery and oppression and not celebratory enough about “brightness.” Even Union Station in Washington became a stage set, where JD Vance tried to serve Shake Shack burgers to National Guard troops while protesters outside shouted him down.
In the courts, Trump turned what should have been a devastating ruling into a political win. A New York appeals panel confirmed that he had lied about his wealth and defrauded banks, but tossed out the half-billion-dollar penalty as excessive. Trump seized on the distinction, branding it “TOTAL VICTORY” and casting himself as the victim of partisan prosecutors. The details matter less than the headline: in the MAGA playbook, guilty plus no fine equals innocence.
And just to drive home the lesson that loyalty is transactional, the FBI raided the home of John Bolton, once Trump’s national security adviser and now one of his fiercest critics. Officially, the raid was about classified documents tied to Bolton’s memoir. Unofficially, it looked like retribution dressed up as law enforcement, amplified by loyalists at the bureau declaring that “no one is above the law.” Together, these stories map a presidency that sees every institution — police, courts, culture, even history itself — as raw material for control. The machinery of state has become the machinery of spectacle, and the line between the two no longer exists.
Welcome back to The Lincoln Logue. Let’s get into the week that was.
Monday, August 18 — COPS: MAGA Edition
▌The show that glorified police abuse just got a fascist reboot.
Trump’s “crime crackdown” in Washington, D.C. has been turned into a reality program directed from the Oval Office. Reuters confirmed that the White House is embedding social media teams with FBI agents during raids in the capital. These crews shoot and edit glossy clips designed for Trump’s platforms, turning routine warrants into primetime television. One viral video showed agents storming a DOJ staffer’s apartment over a tossed Subway sandwich, captured entirely by Trump’s videographers. The message is unmistakable: the arrests themselves are secondary to the propaganda they can generate.
The legal problems are enormous. Filming inside private homes risks violating the Fourth Amendment while poisoning jury pools with pre-trial publicity. The Supreme Court banned this practice in 1999, but to Trump, SCOTUS rulings are optional to follow. White House officials insist the program is “transparency,” though transparency usually comes from reporters, not campaign staffers with cameras. Even the FBI seems uneasy, redirecting all inquiries back to the administration.
The broader concern is how quickly this spectacle could be normalized. Once raids are produced like campaign ads, defendants become props in a political performance. Citizens will stop viewing investigations as impartial justice and start assuming they are scripted television. That loss of trust would collapse the line between policing and politics, leaving the FBI indistinguishable from a campaign war room. Trump hasn’t only weaponized law enforcement — he has monetized it as fascist television with an eager audience.
Source: Reuters