Was Stockman a victim of 'Deep State'?

Former Texas Congressman Steve Stockman, having been accused of using money from mega-donors for personal and campaign expenses, was convicted in April by a Houston jury on 23 counts of financial crimes and sent to prison. Case closed, right?

Maybe not. While his lawyers and family have promised multiple appeals of the verdicts delivered after a trial during which multiple defense witnesses simply were disallowed, the case is also attracting a wider kind of attention.

For one thing, a recent WND online poll, conducted after President Trump announced the pardon of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, gave more than a dozen options as to who should be the next person Trump would pardon – names ranging from Hillary Clinton to Harvey Weinstein to Jonathan Pollard to Jack Abramoff to Martha Stewart.

Stewart got 5 percent of the votes, "Everyone being probed by Mueller" got about 25 percent.

But Stockman got the most votes: 53 percent.

Joseph Farah, WND founder and CEO, wrote about the notion of a pardon for the one-time conservative Texas congressman.

"I've known Steve for many years," wrote Farah. "There's not a corrupt bone in his body. Don't believe anything else you read about this case anywhere – including Fox News, which hung him out to dry."

"Steve went to Washington to do one thing – defeat the Deep State."

Farah continued, "There's an old saying about the feds: If they want to get you, they have an unlimited budget and unlimited power to do so. Knowing what we now know in more graphic detail than ever before, are you surprised?"

He also quoted Patti Stockman, Steve's wife, from a letter she wrote to family and friends: "First let me say that many of you are more broken over this than am I. Not because my heart is hard, but because Steve and I have experienced this ordeal for four years of investigation; hauling friends, acquaintances, and family members before multiple grand juries; finally arrest and indictment March last year; then dragging out of this case development and three weeks of jury trial. Thus, we were prepared for the very worst possible outcome."

Wrote Farah, "Someday, we'll get the whole story, it seems. But not today or tomorrow, for sure." And he recommended readers learn more at the family's website.

"Let me say I hope President Trump pardons Steve Stockman like he pardoned Scooter Libby," he said.

Steve Stockman

Stockman, his supporters claim on the website, went to Washington specifically to "do his part to 'right the ship' of the U.S. government." Like President Trump today, he offended "both the establishment of his own party and those on the left."

His record indeed is one of a conservative warrior. He investigated the misdeeds of the Whitewater Development Corp., opposed Hillarycare back in the '90s, stood against the Mexican bailout, pursued the impeachment of Eric Holder, blocked immigration and gun bills the left demanded, called for the arrest of Lois Lerner, the IRS exec who openly admitted targeting Christians and conservatives with the vast power of the feared federal agency, worked to eliminate automatic citizenship for "anchor babies," attacked the systematic sexual abuse of children in schools, pushed to sanction China for its abortion agenda, coordinated demands for a special investigation into Benghazi and much more.

Stockman served in Congress from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2013 to 2014. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014 against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

So what about the charges against him? The family website says the attack on the former congressman was orchestrated by the very IRS (as well as the public integrity division of the DOJ) that earlier had tried to throttle tea party organizations in opposition to Obama.

"They retaliated with over three years' investigation into every aspect of Steve's life history, bringing their case before at least three grand juries before finally obtaining an indictment," supporters point out.

Then prosecutors demanded limits on what defenses could be raised, even banning the mention of Lerner's name.

"All but two of Stockman's witnesses were denied because it was deemed their testimonies would be irrelevant to the case," supporters explain.

At Stockman's conviction, supporters cited the similar case against former conservative Texas congressman Tom DeLay, whose conviction and prison sentence for election law conspiracy later was thrown out because an appeals court said the evidence just wasn't there.

In court, his defense lawyers argued that the various donors involved had given Stockman broad leeway in deciding how to use the funds.

Stockman himself has blamed the case against him on the "Deep State," referring to established bureaucrats who largely run government.

Patti Stockman told WND she cannot comment on what his lawyers plan next, regarding an appeal or further action, but she just observed that the "Deep State" – whose attempts to take down President Trump Americans are witnessing daily – goes very, very deep indeed.

It's not just the Loretta Lynches, James Comeys and others, she said, but the entire ranks of federal bureaucrats working with a political agenda, she said.