The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey marked the primary felony expenses to be introduced in opposition to a political adversary of the president – however many worry they won’t be the final.
President Trump has an extended checklist of perceived enemies, and he hasn’t been shy about repeatedly calling for his or her prosecution, telling reporters within the wake of Comey’s indictment, “I hope there will be others.”
“It’s not a list, but I think there will be others. They’re corrupt,” Trump stated Friday when requested, “who is the next person on your list in your retribution campaign?”
“It’s about justice,” he added.
Democrats and authorized consultants made clear they see the Comey case as laying the groundwork for expenses in opposition to different Trump foes, together with these not too long ago listed by Trump in a put up calling on Lawyer Common Pam Bondi to carry expenses as “we can’t delay any longer.”
“The Department of Justice has become a political tool of a vengeful president,” Sen. Dick Durbin (Ailing.), the highest Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated Friday.
“President Trump wears his corruption like a badge of honor and defies anyone daring to challenge him,” he added, including that Bondi has complied with Trump’s directives.
For some former prosecutors, the case highlights an erosion of the independence of the Division of Justice in addition to the requirement to carry totally vetted instances.
The grand jury that reviewed the case rejected one proposed cost earlier than approving one associated to creating false statements to Congress and one other for obstruction of a congressional continuing. Each associated to testimony he gave in 2020 relating to the 2016 election. Comey has denied any wrongdoing.
“It’s a very disturbing moment in our country’s history. A president demanded an indictment of one of his enemies, someone he repeatedly ridiculed and vilified in public statements and social media posts, and he got it. He got it even though career prosecutors who had worked on the case didn’t believe the evidence met the standard for obtaining an indictment,” Joyce Vance, who served as a U.S. legal professional below former President Obama, wrote on her weblog.
“In some ways, important ones, today’s news is about Jim Comey. But really, it’s about Donald Trump. It’s about a president who wants to abuse the power of government and make himself unstoppable.”
These near the White Home, nonetheless, defended the prosecution, forecasting there could be extra to comply with.
“Dear Lawfare Democrats: I bet you anything the rest of you are indicted by the end of February,” stated Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer who has suggested the White Home on judicial appointments.
Prosecutors have already got an extended checklist of lively investigations into Trump’s targets, one thing critics see as a weaponization of the Division of Justice the president has lengthy railed in opposition to.
The FBI final month searched the house and workplace of Trump’s former nationwide safety adviser John Bolton after securing a warrant primarily based on suspicions he might have retained labeled information and different delicate materials as he was getting ready a memoir.
A number of retailers reported Friday that Espionage Act expenses in opposition to Bolton are anticipated imminently.
And the Justice Division can be already probing three different Trump adversaries on allegations associated to mortgage fraud: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led Trump’s first impeachment and served on the Jan. 6 committee; New York Lawyer Common Letitia James (D), who received a civil case in opposition to Trump’s enterprise; and Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Prepare dinner, a participant in Trump’s efforts to stress the Fed to decrease rates of interest.
All three have stated the investigations are politically motivated and denied any wrongdoing in reference to the mortgages, the small print of which have been referred to the Justice Division by Trump ally Invoice Pulte, who oversees the Federal Housing Finance Company.
Following the Comey indictment, the Democratic Attorneys Common Affiliation launched a authorized protection fund to assist James in addition to another Democratic legal professional basic focused by Trump, saying they anticipate such assaults to “escalate” as Trump has “demonstrated his eagerness to ignore the law and target anyone who disagrees with him.”
Past these with the specter of a felony case hanging over them, Trump has an extended checklist of individuals he’s stated ought to be prosecuted, together with former particular counsel Jack Smith, the “entire Biden crime family,” Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Kalama Harris, Fulton County, Ga., District Lawyer Fani Willis (D), Manhattan Lawyer Alvin Bragg (D), former Lawyer Common Merrick Garland and Democratic megadonor George Soros.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated he made felony referrals to the Justice Division within the wake of a evaluate of the intelligence neighborhood’s dealing with of the 2016 election, implying expenses may very well be introduced in opposition to former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of Nationwide Intelligence James Clapper.
Democrats see a troubling sample in the best way expenses in opposition to Comey unfolded — particulars that might even be related for any expenses filed in opposition to James.
Final Friday the U.S. legal professional who had been overseeing each instances, Erik Siebert, resigned below stress from the Trump administration to shortly carry expenses, reportedly uncertain there was enough proof.
Trump shortly changed Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, a former member of his private authorized crew who beforehand labored in insurance coverage regulation and has by no means tried a federal case.
The Comey case was then sped earlier than a grand jury with a view to beat the ticking clock on a five-year statute of limitations set to expire on Comey’s Sept. 30 look earlier than the Senate.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) stated Halligan’s appointment tainted the case and would additionally increase questions concerning the legitimacy of any motion taken in opposition to James.
“Today, after firing his own choice for U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Donald Trump finally got a subservient new replacement to carry out his revenge prosecution against former FBI Director James Comey by bringing baseless criminal charges against him,” he stated in an announcement.
He described Halligan as somebody “who has literally no prosecutorial experience but is clearly willing to blindly carry out the president’s orders and was willing to file “the exact baseless charges against Mr. Comey that her predecessor had rejected.”
“The rule of law was supposed to replace vendettas, blood feuds, and mad kings exacting vengeance on their perceived enemies. This sordid episode is one more savage assault on justice in America,” Raskin stated.
For his half, Comey is defending himself from the allegations he lied about his involvement in media leaks associated to the 2016 election. A 2018 inspector basic report sided with Comey’s account of the matter.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system. And I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial,” Comey stated in a Thursday night time video.
“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either.”
White Home officers have defended the transfer.
Bondi borrowed a line from Democrats when acknowledging the indictment on X, saying, “No one is above the law.”
And FBI Director Kash Patel, who was closely concerned in pushing again in opposition to the 2016 investigation into the Trump marketing campaign as a Home Intelligence Committee Republican staffer, defended the bureau’s function within the case.
“Career FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others. They called the balls and strikes and will continue to do so. The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate- it’s hypocrisy on steroids,” he wrote on X.
Many GOP lawmakers additionally defended the transfer.
“James Comey was not indicted because Donald Trump doesn’t like him,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose exchanges throughout the 2020 listening to are the premise for the costs, wrote on X.
“Comey demonstrated complete arrogance and unwillingness to comply with the law.”
Past expenses for people, the Trump administration can be already eyeing investigations for teams that problem the president’s agenda.
A Justice Division official despatched a letter to a half dozen U.S. legal professional workplaces calling for investigations into the Soros-backed Open Society Foundations, even itemizing doable expenses similar to arson and materials assist of terrorism.
Open Society Foundations funds nonprofits throughout the globe engaged on justice and human rights points, although a lot of its work within the U.S. is devoted to strengthening democracy. It denied any reference to terrorism.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) noticed the 2 as related, and a broader assault on free speech, significantly when it confronts Trump.
“It is a very harmful second. The president can be going after different critics and political adversaries. He’s speaking about going after the Soros basis. He’s talked about going after Adam Schiff. It is a lawless administration. We simply had this episode the place they have been utilizing authorities energy to crack down on free speech,” he stated throughout an look on CNN.
Trump, in the meantime, has not been shy in sharing how he feels about his adversaries, utilizing his time at Charlie Kirk’s funeral to say, “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them.”
Brett Samuels contributed.
