Autocratic socialist regimes around the world routinely use the courts to attack their opponents and punish their opponent's supporters.  Unfortunately, this is not uncommon even here in the U.S.  In my own state of Texas, the state is pretty conservative, but the capital city of Austin is very liberal.  As a result, we too often see a liberal Austin-based prosecutor bringing dubious charges against conservative Texas politicians.

This is a very bad practice that has no place in a democracy.  It should be rooted out and ruthlessly eliminated.  I would even be willing to forgo prosecution of obvious crimes in some cases to avoid the appearance or reality of turning the criminal courts into political attack machines.

If President Obama does not Pardon Hillary Clinton, if I were Donald Trump, I would discourage my attorney general from prosecuting her, both for the email scandal and the Clinton Foundation scandal she was probably trying to hide.

The IRS scandal, however, I would pursue with a vengeance.  In the interest of enforcing honesty in adherence to our tax laws, we have given the IRS powers rivaling and even exceeding the powers of our courts.  Some person or persons in the IRS used those powers to influence the outcome of an election.  Mitt Romney and other conservative politicians might have been elected if not for the interference of the IRS in impeding the activities of conservative organizations.  We will never know.

Prosecution of this crime should not have a time limit.  It strikes at the very foundations of our democracy.  It should be investigated and prosecuted ruthlessly to make the point that, regardless of their own political leanings, IRS agents had better be nonpartisan in doing their jobs or expect to go to jail.