President Donald Trump celebrated the indictment of James Comey, the former FBI director, declaring that justice had finally been served. “It’s about justice, really,” Trump told reporters. “It’s not revenge.” But as the president engages in a wide-ranging retribution campaign against his political opponents, his own words and actions suggest otherwise. Even on Friday, Trump illustrated how much vengeance was at the heart of his second-term agenda. “They did it with me for four years,” he said of Democrats. “They went after me.”
While Trump has attempted, at times, to distance himself from the investigations into his political opponents or feign indifference to the outcomes — “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine,” he said over the weekend — he has more often justified his quest for revenge by accusing Democrats of weaponizing the Justice Department against him first.
The cases against Trump for mishandling classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election were brought by a special counsel, a semi-independent prosecutor appointed when an investigation may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest for the Justice Department. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland took great pains to show independence from the Biden White House.
In Comey’s case, Trump fired the US attorney who refused to file charges against the former FBI director, then replaced him with his former personal lawyer, who overrode the objections of career prosecutors. Comey was indicted on Thursday — just before the statute of limitations expired — on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstructing a congressional proceeding, in connection with his testimony before a Senate committee in September 2020.
Only 14 of the 23 grand jurors who heard the presentation of charges voted to indict Comey, barely clearing the 12-vote threshold, according to the magistrate judge who oversaw the proceedings. For nearly a decade, Trump has targeted Comey, furious at him for leading an investigation into potential ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russians seeking to influence the election. His anger about that investigation has become so central to Trump’s political identity that “the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax” — Trump’s shorthand for the investigation — has become a rallying cry among his supporters.
The indictment of his longtime foe gave Trump both a political and personal victory, and was the latest example of how the president has upended the Justice Department, which under Trump’s direction has abandoned the principle of political independence that has guided the government’s pursuit of law and order for the last 40 years.
“That’s just been a fundamental tenet since Watergate,” Stacey Young, a former Justice Department lawyer and the executive director of Justice Connection, an organization composed of former department officials. “And the reason behind that is because DOJ’s powers to investigate and prosecute are immense. They can destroy or alter lives.” Young added: “I can’t think of a clearer or more egregious example of a president trampling over institutional norms and constitutional requirements,” referring to Comey’s indictment.
As a candidate, Trump promised to usher in an administration of retribution, and he has made clear that he expects the Justice Department to mete out punishment to his perceived enemies. The department has also issued a subpoena for records related to the travel history of Fani Willis, the Georgia district attorney who charged Trump in a sweeping election interference case.
The scope of the investigation is unclear, as is whether Willis is a target of the inquiry. But the subpoena suggested that the Trump administration was investigating another one of the president’s longtime foes.
White House officials said the president was focused on restoring integrity to the justice system. “The indictment against Comey speaks for itself, and the Trump administration looks forward to fair proceedings in the courts,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. But even some of Trump’s allies acknowledged how central the president’s own feelings were to the work of the Justice Department. “It shouldn’t be a great surprise that he is prepared to be as tough as his opponents, and that’s what you’re up against,” said Newt Gingrich, a former Republican House speaker and an ally of the president’s.
During his first term, Trump was impeached by the House twice, once for seeking election assistance from Ukraine and once for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate acquitted him both times. And after leaving office, the Justice Department indicted him in two separate cases: one for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another for his handling of classified documents.
The president on Friday denied that there was a “list” of people he was targeting but predicted that more indictments were coming. He has made clear in recent days that there are others he would like to see the Justice Department pursue.
In a social media post last Saturday, Trump lamented to Attorney General Pam Bondi that “Nothing is being done” in investigations of Comey; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Letitia James, New York’s attorney general. The Justice Department is also drafting plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor who Trump has demanded be thrown in jail. “They are sick, radical left people, and they can’t get away with it,” the president said.
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