To the Editor:

This past summer, Senator Bob Menendez was convicted of bribery after gold bars, cash, and favors tied to foreign governments came to light. This was after an investigation by the FBI when Democrats were in power. Democrats and Republicans alike said he should resign. The courts sentenced him to eleven years in prison—no pardon, no special treatment. That’s how accountability is supposed to work: when the evidence is clear, party lines don’t protect you.

Now we watch a different story unfold. Tom Homan—Trump’s “border czar”—was filmed by undercover agents taking a bag with $50,000 in cash, allegedly in exchange for helping contractors when the new administration took power. The investigation wasn’t political; it was started when the FBI were alerted to it through another investigation, following standard anti-corruption procedures. But once the new administration arrived, the case was closed. Homan kept his job. At recent hearings, Pam Bondi scoffed at renewed scrutiny of Tom Homan’s $50,000 cash-bag sting. Instead of a simple yes or no, she turned combative toward her questioners rather than risk responding in a way that might come back to bite her. How’s this for the party who claims they stand for law and order?

Both cases raise the same basic question: do we still believe that public service means serving the public, not ourselves?
If accountability only applies when it’s politically convenient, then justice isn’t blind—it’s wearing a team jersey.

After all these years of hearing promises to “drain the swamp,” maybe it’s time we simply ask: “Where is the swamp?”

Pat Collins,

Fillmore, Ca