Another coup attempt has failed.

Fact: The Russia investigation known as Spygate arose not because the FBI and CIA thought it likely that Trump colluded with Russia — everyone knew that was nonsense.  The Russia probe and the resultant Mueller investigation were based on a false dossier paid for by the DNC.  The FBI, CIA, and DoJ used these documents — knowing full well that they were fraudulent — in order to spy on and undermine the Trump administration.  It was a coup attempt, plain and simple.

Fact: The impeachment arose not because a principled whistleblower spontaneously came forward with a tale of a Ukraine phone call.  We know this because (1) Inspector General Michael Atkinson clandestinely changed the rules to allow the whistleblower to file a complaint using only hearsay evidence, and (2) the whistleblower's colleague joined Adam Schiff's staff just weeks before it was launched.  These are not coincidences; they are evidence of a deliberate plot to destroy the president.

We should all recoil in horror that the Intelligence Community and the DoJ could be weaponized against a sitting president.  Spying, planting informants, the use of purely partisan Democrats' oppo research to create a fake criminal narrative — how could decent Americans allow the rule of law to be bent in such an unlawful fashion?

And these plotters used scorched-earth tactics, surprising Trump supporters with unannounced interviews to create perjury traps, threatening their children with jail time, sending SWAT teams to kick in their doors at 3 A.M., raiding his lawyers' offices to search for dirt, and placing a defendant for a nonviolent white-collar crime in solitary confinement.

How could this happen in the Land of the Free?

My first reaction was, in order to punish those responsible for this travesty, Trump and his DoJ must be utterly impartial.  Yes, the Spygate instigators must be brought to justice, but Attorney General William Barr should not stoop as low as they did.  Otherwise, the result might rightly be seen as merely fighting partisan action with a partisan reaction, and the punishment of the Spygate crew for an illegitimate investigation will itself be seen as illegitimate.

So my instinct, and that of many other observers, is to fight partisanship with a strict adherence to the rule of law and a determination to keep politics out of the legal equation.

However, I now feel that this may be a misguided as well as naïve view.

Whom are we kidding?  No one will give Trump or Barr credit for an impartial investigation.  The Democrats and the media will automatically label any attempt by Trump to punish these wrongdoers as partisan and illegitimate.  No matter how even-handed Trump tries to be, any such actions will be treated by the dishonest media as mere political payback or (more likely) proof that Trump has become an authoritarian dictator hell-bent on revenge.

Given this, why should Trump not use every weapon at his disposal?  If he is being attacked in an unfair fashion, why should he alone be required to follow the Marquess of Queensberry rules?  Why should Trump fight back with one hand tied behind his back, particularly when no one will credit him for acting in fairly?

And, just as important, there is a lesson to be learned: that partisanship begets more partisanship.  Put simply, the instigators of Spygate must learn that partisanship is a two-way street.  If these Deep State actors feel empowered to use purely partisan malice to inflict pain on their enemies, they should be aware that, eventually, their enemies will do the same thing to them.

It's now time to do just that.

My advice to the Trump administration is to act — now!  Let the Hounds of Hell loose on those bad actors who engineered these two failed coup attempts.  They are the ones who truly deserve to be punished.

In short, let them know exactly what it feels like to have the Deep State breathing down their necks.  And make them pray for forgiveness for what they've done to President Trump — and our country.

Jay Latimer is an international businessman, writer, and investor who has worked in investment banking for several multinational banks in New York, Hong Kong, and Beijing.