U.S. President Barack Obama is using the Justice Department to fine companies that get in his way, according to allegations reported by Britain’s Telegraph on October 31.

For example, JP Morgan agreed to pay $5.1 billion to America’s financial regulators on October 25, after being pursued by the Justice Department. The accusations “related to wrongdoing at Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, companies JP Morgan did not even own at the time,” wrote the Telegraph’s U.S. business editor, Katherine Rushton. “It only became involved in the sorry mess because it bowed to government pressure at the height of the economic crisis, and bought the smaller banks before they collapsed.” The bank is still trying to settle other lawsuits and is expected to pay out a total of $13 billion.

Rushton continued, “Analysts and U.S. politicians claim the record fine is politically motivated. JP Morgan navigated the economic crisis better than any other bank, but it has also been highly critical of Mr. Obama. ‘There is no doubt in my mind. It is an act of revenge,’ says one Republican governor.”

The article also noted that rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is facing a $5 billion lawsuit after it was accused of misleading investors by making some investments seem more reliable than they actually were. In September, S&P filed a lawsuit claiming that the Justice Department was trying to get revenge on S&P for downgrading America’s credit rating in 2011. It said the government was seeking “excessive fines” and that the lawsuit was “impermissibly selective, punitive and meritless,” brought “in retaliation for defendants’ exercise of their free speech rights with respect to the creditworthiness of the United States of America.”

“U.S. regulators may well be politically motivated, but they are blind to nationality,” writes Rushton. “If the governor is right, the authorities will set their attack dogs on any company which has become a thorn in Mr. Obama’s side.”

She concludes, “This might sound sinister, but it is hardly unusual.” She may be right, but it is certainly immoral and unconstitutional.

All this evidence of government wrongdoing is purely circumstantial. But it is worth paying attention to because of the source if nothing else. This isn’t an accusation from a crazed conspiratorial website that thinks Mr. Obama is a closet Muslim from Kenya. It’s from one of Britain’s top newspapers.

The fact that this accusation doesn’t stand alone adds to its credibility. The U.S. administration has also been accused of using the Internal Revenue Service to harass political opponents. It has also demonstrated vindictive behavior toward journalists that produce coverage it considers unfavorable.

Rushton’s claim that this is “hardly unusual” also, sadly, has a ring of truth to it. This kind of corruption seems to have infested politics at all levels and both parties. For example, read this New York Times article on how lawmakers proposed legislation purely to extort cash out of lobbyists. Politicians from John Boehner to Mr. Obama himself are implicated in that scandal.

Even in society as a whole, how many lie and cheat in order to get ahead?

The corruption in America’s administration is dismal. To learn more about the cause and why it is so widespread, read our free booklet America Under Attack.