Trump Ramps Up Threats Against Political Foes After DOJ Shakeup

The Trump administration is ratcheting up its threats of prosecution against Democrats and other critics, in an escalation of its use of the legal system to go after the president’s perceived enemies.

The officials targeted include repeated Donald Trump antagonists such as ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who last year won a $454 million verdict against Trump in a civil case over fraudulent asset valuations, as well as a Democratic congresswoman from New Jersey.

Former federal prosecutors described a stark departure from the Justice Department’s typical process for prosecutions of elected officials, as the department guts its public integrity unit and considers removing a key check by nonpartisan lawyers in cases against members of Congress.

“On the one hand, the Trump administration is deprioritizing fighting public corruption, and on the other hand, it’s weaponizing the Justice Department against people who Trump doesn’t like,” said Paul Butler, a Georgetown Law professor and former federal prosecutor.

Trump and other officials have also commented publicly on yet-to-be charged cases, an unusual move for a department that typically doesn’t confirm or deny investigations until public charges are filed, fueling concerns that the department is taking cues from the White House.

Trump called for investigations of celebrities including Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé in a May 19 social media post. He also spoke publicly about criminal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) for allegedly assaulting and interfering with immigration authorities during a confrontation outside a detention facility in Newark, telling reporters this week that McIver was “out of control.”

Publicly discussing pending investigations could also hinder the prosecution itself, such as by tainting a jury pool, former prosecutors said.

“It definitely raises the question: if they are continually running afoul of those things, what is the true purpose here, and what is the true legitimacy of these cases?” said Kristy Parker, special counsel at Protect Democracy and a former prosecutor with the department’s civil rights division.

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement that the Justice Department “will act independently in its decision-making.”

“Accountability for a class of people who act as if they’re above the law may be uncomfortable for Left-wing media outlets, but it’s refreshing to the American people,” he said.

The DOJ didn’t respond to a request for comment.

‘Name’ and ‘Shame’

This new approach was on display during a press conference earlier this month with Ed Martin, then the outgoing interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, as he discussed his decision not to bring charges against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for earlier comments about conservative Supreme Court justices.

Martin, now the pardon attorney and chief of a “weaponization” working group, said if “bad actors” can’t be charged, “we will name them,” and “in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are shamed,” he said.

“I’m happy to say out loud that what he did was shameful,” he said.

Shaming a person publicly where there wasn’t enough evidence to charge them “is completely contrary” to the department’s core principles, said Barbara McQuade, a former US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“I’m worried that this Justice Department, as evidenced by the words of Ed Martin, is about bringing shame to political rivals, even if they can’t back it up in court,” she said. “That is an abuse of the power of a prosecutor.”

‘Flagrant Partisanship’

Trump promised retribution throughout his 2024 campaign, vowing to exact revenge on a legal system he claimed was “weaponized” against him, and the flurry of threats, investigations, and criminal charges against political foes shows he’s “following through on that promise,” said Jed Shugerman, a Boston University law professor.

“The Trump DOJ is a leap into a more flagrant partisanship of the” Justice Department, he added, noting that while DOJ norms of independence were already eroding, “Trump killed those norms.”

The New York Times first reported Tuesday on the department’s criminal investigation of Cuomo, which is reportedly tied to congressional testimony he gave relating to his actions as governor during the Covid-19 pandemic.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed in an interview on Fox News days earlier that investigators were probing alleged mortgage fraud by James, calling the case one of “great public importance.”

Cuomo is campaigning to unseat New York mayor Eric Adams, who was facing a federal corruption case until Trump DOJ’s appointees intervened, claiming the prosecution was preventing him from aiding the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

He and James have criticized the investigations, with a Cuomo spokesman calling his matter “lawfare and election interference plain and simple—something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”

Shugerman, who’s written on the history of the DOJ, invoked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whom he argued used questionable legal theories to pursue an ultimately successful criminal case against Trump for concealing a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election.

It marked an “unprecedented escalation,” Shugerman said. “It makes it seem like there’s some merit in pushing back on New York state politicians because they all lump together in the shadow of Alvin Bragg’s disastrous prosecution.”

Personnel, Priority Shift

The escalation in attacks on political foes comes amid significant changes inside the department. Trump has tapped many of his former personal attorneys to key positions, who have moved to reshape its agenda to align with his own.

The shifts in priorities have prompted an exodus of career lawyers across the DOJ, which has largely relied on its public integrity section since Watergate to investigate and bring cases involving criminal offenses tied to public officials.

The unit, which had roughly 35 lawyers at the start of the year,is now down to around five attorneys, according to a person familiar with the matter, with much of its staff getting reassigned to other areas of the department.

Trump and his political appointees are simultaneously pushing investigations of political opponents while also promising to target state and local leaders who resist its immigration agenda.

Taken together, it suggests a strategy rooted in intimidation, said Aitan Goelman, a white-collar defense lawyer in Washington, noting the huge costs of fielding a defense against the federal government.

“It’s an obvious ploy designed to chill opposition and chill dissent,” he said. “Even if you’re eventually exonerated, being investigated, much less charged with a federal crime is an unpleasant, stressful, and expensive ordeal to go through.”