The past week has perhaps been one of the most revealing weeks in modern history. The extent to which the system was exposed for what it is, on multiple fronts, probably won’t be matched again for at least a little while. And while the blatant market manipulation that went on to try to protect hedge funds from retail investors was certainly a big part of that (see The Elites Move to Save the Hedge Funders from Reddit, and People Have Thoughts), something else happened that really put the cherry on top of this terrible sundae.

As RedState reported, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who was working with Robert Mueller, was given probation and a $100 administrative fee for his role in falsifying an email to renew the already illegally obtained FISA warrant on Carter Page.

Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia has sentenced fired FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith to probation — no sentence of incarceration — for creating a false document as part of his work with the Robert Mueller Special Counsel’s Office in preparation for obtaining a Third Extension on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant obtained on Carter Page.

Out of all the nefarious, obviously corrupt figures surrounding this saga, Clinesmith was the only one charged. Figures like Andrew McCabe and James Comey were named in credible criminal referrals, not by politicians, but by the Inspector General, and the DOJ did nothing. In the end, Clinesmith got sentenced for less jail time (in this case none) than George Papadopoulos, whose only “crime” was mixing up a date on a harmless meeting he still admitted to having. To recap, you can forget a date talking to the FBI and have a special counsel crack your skull, but if you work for the FBI, forge a document, and lie about it in order to try to spy on a political opponent, you get probation and glowing media coverage. Laughably, it’s not even a long probation period either. Single mothers caught with weed in their car have gotten more than 12 months probation.

To further the point, here’s Sean Davis succinctly making another comparison.

The entire game is rigged.

DOJ is trying to throw a troll in prison for 10 years because of a meme from 2016.

Meanwhile, a corrupt FBI attorney gets probation for defrauding a federal court in order to spy on his enemies.

The rule of law is dead. https://t.co/FOP0lHY4lE

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 29, 2021

Yes, the DOJ is going after a guy for posting Taylor Swift memes in 2016 as part of an effort to root out “election interference.” An FBI lawyer gets probation for lying and altering documents, but some meme artist trolling people on Facebook gets targeted with 10 years in prison.

Again, the game is rigged. There are two justice systems, two financial systems, and any many ways, two political systems. One group gets to do things the other group simply doesn’t get to do. If you try to mess up their status quo, the hammer comes down. If they get caught, it’s pillow fluffs and pats on the head. This is how you got Donald Trump in the first place, and it’s why the populist undertones of our current moment are not going away.