In US judicial proceedings, beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest standard of proof required.

In civil litigation, it’s either proof by a preponderance of evidence or by what’s clear and convincing – establishing a high probability of truth.

In criminal cases, the high proof standard of reasonable doubt is especially important because a defendant’s freedom or possible execution is at stake.

The same high standard is most important when one nation accuses another of criminal actions. War could follow false accusations accepted as factual.

Last March, neocon Dick Cheney called alleged foreign interference in America’s election an “act of war” – despite none occurring, baseless accusations alone.

In judicial proceedings, if prosecutors can’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, jurors or judges are obligated to exonerate defendants.

The same standard holds for accusations against Russia, claiming interference in America’s 2016 presidential election. No evidence proves it. None exists. Months of investigations turned up nothing.

Yet the witch-hunt persists, time and taxpayer money wasted. Media scoundrels are especially reprehensible, bashing Trump for the wrong reasons, ignoring the right ones.

Endless investigations into fabricated accusations claiming Russian US election hacking will continue discovering nothing because no interference occurred.

Sacking Comey should be a nonissue. America’s intelligence community as it now operates, including the FBI, should be fired, replaced by responsible agencies operating legally, serving all Americans equitably, opposing imperial lawlessness and governance serving privileged interests exclusively – polar opposite the way things are in Washington.

Hysterical NYT editors were over-the-top headlining “Trump’s Firing of Comey Is All About the Russia Inquiry,” saying:

His sacking jeopardizes “the viability of any further investigation into what could be one of the biggest political scandals in the country’s history.”

Fact: It’s hard finding words harsh enough to condemn this reckless comment. The real scandal is America’s fantasy democracy, a bipartisan conspiracy against peace, equity, and justice, the nation’s endless wars of aggression, its deplorable media scoundrels, producing disinformation and fake news, not real journalism, supporting Washington’s sinister agenda instead of condemning it.

The anti-Russia witch-hunt should be terminated at once, clear statements explaining no interference in America’s presidential election occurred, and putting an end to what never should have been initiated once and for all.

The Times debunked the notion that Comey failed to follow-through responsibly on investigating Hillary’s criminality, instead saying:

He “was fired (for) leading an active investigation that could bring down a president” – possible only by producing fabricated accusations about what never happened, no other way.

The Times:

“(T)he need for…a (special) prosecutor is plainer than ever…The president…crippled the FBI’s ability to carry out an investigation of him and his associates.”

Fact: Holding Trump accountable for deplorable domestic and geopolitical policies is warranted and necessary, not pursuing a witch-hunt to oust him from office for fabricated reasons, as The Times supports.

Comparing Comey’s sacking to Nixon’s October 1973 Saturday Night Massacre, as its editors claim, is utter rubbish. There are no hidden White House tapes, no subpoenas for presidential documents, no Justice Department resignations, just recommendations.

Hysteria substitutes for sensibility. Trump has been in office less than four months. Calls for impeaching him for the wrong reasons should shock the public conscience.

So should fake accusations of Russian US election meddling. The absence of evidence should put the issue to rest once and for all.

Instead it festers interminably – testimony to a system too debauched to fix, and deplorable media scoundrels, refusing to do their job responsibly.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.