As the Trump bandwagon rolls on and the parade grows behind it, there has to be a growing unease in many federal office buildings throughout the country that computers and file cabinets may contain emails and documents that could be used against them if Republicans take total control of the government.  Even if a Trump Justice Department chose not to determine the truth about Fast and Furious, Benghazi, and the IRS scandals and take prosecutorial action, a friendly administration might allow hundreds if not thousands of civil suits to be filed against federal departments and employees by citizens and organizations who consider themselves damaged by the Obama administration’s dishonesty and many abuses of power.

What if all those FOIA requests for documents and information that have been routinely stonewalled by multiple federal agencies and departments for the past eight years were suddenly honored by a Trump administration?  Such an action could very well result in a treasure trove of culpability falling into the waiting hands of countless plaintiffs’ lawyers and even federal prosecutors.  The thought of that happening has to be keeping some bureaucrats, as well as elected and appointed politicians, from sleeping too soundly as Trump’s election appears more possible with every passing day.  You would have to be naïve beyond belief not to realize that there must be thousands or more of those individuals who are beginning to wonder just what’s in their files that could provide the rope that hangs them.  And of course, the very next thought that follows that mental inventory is what can be done to get rid of the rope.

Trump could enhance his popularity immediately and immensely if he were to add to his stump speeches the promise that those in the Obama administration who have ignored the law or acted illegally on behalf of their political masters won’t necessarily be investigated for such actions by a Trump administration, but they will most certainly be prosecuted to the fullest extent if they attempt to obstruct justice by destroying official communications and records.  He should cement that thought in their minds by reminding them that even if they destroy electronic and paper evidence in their personal possession, in this day and age, there are always copies of those records in other computers and file cabinets that inevitably will be found.  And that evidence could very well provide the obstruction of justice rope they hang by.  Trump should emphasize that even someone as powerful as Hillary can’t escape investigation for mishandling and likely destruction of official communications and documents; she may avoid prosecution, perhaps, but then bureaucrats aren’t Hillary, with all that Clinton Teflon magic.

To absolutely mangle Dr. Samuel Johnson: the thought of a hanging by the next administration should wonderfully concentrate the mind of a federal bureaucrat.