Before Trump, there was Congressman Steve Stockman

Before President Donald J. Trump, there was Texas Rep. Steve Stockman. Like Trump, Stockman is the victim of an elaborate witch hunt. But unlike Trump, Steve is serving a federal prison sentence, and with each passing day is at greater risk of contracting the deadly coronavirus. The virus is already in 45 federal prisons, with a body count of 22 inmates.

Despite innumerable requests for home confinement being granted to actual criminals with bona fide criminal records to boot – Stockman's request was inexplicably denied, after he was told only days ago he would be released in two weeks.

Why the sudden reversal? It smells like politics to many of Stockman's supporters – but the reason is irrelevant, since the reversal stands in open defiance of U.S. Attorney General William Barr's memorandum directing federal prisons to "move with dispatch in using home confinement," and to move "vulnerable inmates out of these institutions."

Stockman's guilt (to begin with) is very much in dispute. And, Steve's alleged offenses are tiny when compared with the actual crimes committed by New York City crime boss Michael Avenatti or former Democrat U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown. Both Avenatti's and Brown's requests for home confinement were expedited, yet another reason why Steve shouldn't still be languishing in a jail cell.

A little background on Congressman Steve Stockman: Trump and Stockman share innumerable qualities, like courage of convictions. Unlike so many other conservative leaders who consistently promise one thing and do another, Steve passionately exemplified his worldview in private as well as public, and his sincerity is unmistakable.

Steve is single-handedly responsible for blocking the Obama administration's legislative agenda on gun control and immigration (amnesty) policy.

Stockman's knowledge of arcane and sometimes little-known procedural rules was put to consistent use, including one technique called the "blue slip" rule.

Obama intended to confiscate all privately owned defensive weapons from law-abiding citizens and even proposed having the CDC classify gun owners as health risks (which Stockman also blocked.)

If it weren't for Stockman, America may have looked a lot different, a lot sooner. Who knows whether Trump would even be president?

Steve put his neck on the chopping block for America. He stood up, spoke out and was punished by a federal court system that needs sunlight like the Federal Reserve needs an audit.

Sidney Powell, author of "Licensed to Lie" and attorney for Gen. Michael Flynn, recently said on the "Bill Martinez Live" radio show:

"It doesn't matter whether you are innocent or not. They will make up crimes against you; they will indict you; they will search your house; they are willing to make up evidence. …"

She added: "We live in far more of a police state than anybody ever wanted to think we did. Just look at what has happened to Congressman Steve Stockman."

Powell submitted an official petition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force requesting Trump release Stockman to serve his sentence at home due to the pandemic.

She was joined by other major conservative heavyweights and recognizable names. The appeal notes that Stockman, 63, suffers from diabetes and a lung condition, making him at-risk for COVID-19. To date, Stockman has received no reply.

Setting aside the real risk Stockman faces from coronavirus exposure, the facts proving his mis-trial and innocence are virtually incontrovertible.

Both the appeal and amicus briefs make it abundantly clear that the charges against Stockman were absolutely wrong under the relevant laws, citing over two dozen cases of "settled" precedent handed down by the Supreme Court that support immediate reversal of Stockman's conviction.

"Now the Deep State … appears to have gotten its revenge on Stockman," reporter Rachel Alexander wrote in an in-depth column last year for WND and The Daily Caller.

In her column, Alexander also incredibly revealed that, "The prosecutor who signed Stockman's indictment, Raymond Hulser, was copied on Lois Lerner's emails." [Emphasis added.]

For those who would dismiss the obvious "smoking gun" implied in the Lerner "CC," Alexander reports that the former U.S. representative was "prevented from even mentioning Lois Lerner at trial," highly unusual and a violation of Stockman's rights against self-incrimination.

It's especially noteworthy, because Stockman was only investigated by the FBI after exposing Lois Lerner's malfeasance, Alexander contends.

Steve Stockman's 10-year sentence is the first of its kind. The judge may also have broken the law by leading the jury to enforce unconstitutional orders, according to attorney and legal scholar Mark Fitzgibbons. "The government confused the jury about complex law governing campaign finance and tax-exempt entities in the political and charitable arenas," Fitzgibbons wrote for The Daily Caller.

"The judge issued incorrect Jury Instructions in areas clearly protected by the First Amendment."

Federal prisons are increasingly becoming a de facto "gulag" for a wide berth of political dissidents, deemed too dangerous by America's self-appointed, would-be rulers to remain on the "outside."

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and bestselling author Dr. Jerome Corsi are two great examples of the trend. Like Stockman, they risked much and lost almost everything, but had the backstop of a Republican in the White House. Were Stockman's persecution to occur only two years later, he may not be sitting in a cell waiting to catch coronavirus.

Their crimes? Corsi's books thoroughly exposed the dark deeds of America's ruling class. And, DeLay was guilty of merely turning a record-breaking number of Republican bills into actual laws. His zealous efficiency earned DeLay the nickname: "The Hammer."

He was charged under a law that doesn't even exist, and Corsi was accused of being a Russian spy, spending millions to fight the defamatory slur in court.

The deep state is weaponizing America's courts, and political disagreement is being criminalized. If current events are any indicator of future trends, then elections may soon be replaced with criminal convictions.

Only days after promising Steve he could go home, officials announced a radical new policy allowing only inmates with 50% of their sentence completed to transfer.

It's arbitrary. It's random. It's suspiciously sudden and smells of political animus against Stockman.

And again, the rationale behind the reversal is really moot, since not sending Steve home defies AG Barr's order requiring speedy release of "vulnerable" inmates.

It doesn't take a lawyer to conclude Stockman's "equal protection of the laws" is being violated, here.

Ironically, Trump gave a speech to an audience of ex-convicts last February, where he promised to "straighten out" any injustice wrought by corruption in our court system.

Well, now is the president's chance to make good on his promise, and "straighten out" an injustice that threatens to become virtual murder.

In Texas, we still observe the Golden Rule. Is political expediency worth losing our own constitutional protections when the tables are inevitably turned in the near future?

Let's not make an already unjust sentence, a death sentence.