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Trump has made no secret that his second term would be about revenge and “retribution” against his foes. And that apparently means breaking down guardrails intended to insulate the Justice Department from him and his politics.
The Post reported Sunday that Trump and his allies have mapped out specific plans to use the federal government to target Trump’s foes. They have signaled a desire to pursue not only President Biden but also high-profile former allies who have turned critical of Trump.
Those former allies include ex-attorney general William P. Barr, ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley, ex-White House chief of staff John F. Kelly and ex-Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb. Just to emphasize, that’s the incumbent president as well as the nation’s former top law enforcement officer, top military official and top White House staffer.
(It’s not clear what these figures would be investigated for. Trump has also suggestively referred to the death penalty for Milley in recent weeks.)
Trump’s associates have drafted plans, according to The Post’s report, to “dispense with 50 years of policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations.” Political interference in Justice Department matters figured heavily in Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. In the early 2000s, the George W. Bush administration’s removals of U.S. attorneys for allegedly political purposes resulted in a criminal investigation.
They are also drafting preemptive plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act on Trump’s first day to quell demonstrations. A key figure in that effort is indicted former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who Trump’s indictment says floated using the same law to put down protests if Trump refused to leave office in 2021.
Some involved have distanced themselves from that last idea, but they’re talking openly about making the Justice Department less independent.
“I think that the supposedly independent DOJ is an illusion,” Clark told The Post.
“A president has every right to direct DOJ to look at items that are his policy priorities and other matters of national importance,” another Trump loyalist involved, Mark Paoletta, has told the Times.
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