With Comey indictment, Trump shatters norms of US justice system
| Washington
鈥淚 am your retribution,鈥� Donald Trump declared in 2023 as he campaigned to regain the presidency.
Now, with the federal criminal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, President Trump has taken his biggest step yet toward fulfilling that pledge. In the process, he has struck a major blow to the decades-old post-Watergate norms aimed at preventing U.S. presidents from intervening in Justice Department matters.
Mr. Comey was : one for making a false statement, the other for obstructing a congressional proceeding. The testimony in question was before a Senate committee in September 2020 regarding the FBI鈥檚 probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Why We Wrote This
The indictment of former FBI director James Comey, which President Donald Trump demanded on social media, comes amid threats of more prosecutorial action. Critics say it could have a chilling effect across government. Mr. Trump says he is seeking justice, not revenge.
The president has long seen Mr. Comey as a nemesis, and fired him early in the first Trump term. Since then, Mr. Comey鈥檚 public criticisms of Mr. Trump engendered growing animosity, and days after a Trump loyalist was installed as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Comey indictment landed. The prior U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, resigned under pressure from Mr. Trump over Mr. Siebert鈥檚 decision not to go forward with the Comey indictment. The new U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, is a former Trump personal lawyer and has no prior experience as a prosecutor.
There is 鈥渘o doubt鈥� that Mr. Trump has weaponized federal law enforcement, says Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University and veteran of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Justice Departments. 鈥淲hat we have is a president who鈥檚 on a binge for revenge.鈥�
Speaking to reporters on his way out of town Friday morning, Mr. Trump countered that view. 鈥淭his is about justice, not about revenge,鈥� he said when asked about the Comey indictment. It was Democrats who weaponized the Justice Department against him, he said, starting before he even came into office in 2017, investigating allegations that his campaign had colluded with Russia. 鈥淭hey weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e corrupt.鈥�
With leaders of his federal law enforcement and intelligence teams best known for their loyalty to the president, Mr. Trump has put other figures and organizations in his sights. Former CIA Director John Brennan was widely expected to be indicted over what Mr. Trump calls the 鈥淩ussia hoax,鈥� but that investigation appears to have stalled. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is also under investigation in connection with the probe known as 鈥淐rossfire Hurricane鈥� 鈥� the FBI investigation started during the Obama administration into alleged ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
Last month, the home and office of Mr. Trump鈥檚 former national security adviser, John Bolton, a Trump critic, were raided by the FBI. , the search turned up classified documents, though Mr. Bolton has yet to face legal action. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Mr. Trump and his businesses for hundreds of millions of dollars, is also under investigation.
The liberal Open Society Foundations, funded by Democratic billionaire donor George Soros, is also facing a multipronged federal investigation, according to by The New York Times. Mr. Trump said recently that Mr. Soros聽should be thrown in jail and his charitable operation investigated for possible racketeering.
Mr. Trump frequently uses social media to issue apparent instructions to his team, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, eliminating any illusion that the Justice Department operates independently of the White House.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 delay any longer,鈥� Mr. Trump last Saturday in a message directed to 鈥淧am,鈥� listing various figures he wants to prosecute, including Mr. Comey. 鈥淛USTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!鈥�
On Friday, in a statement on X, FBI Director Kash Patel defended his agency amid charges of rampant politicization.
鈥淐areer FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others,鈥� . 鈥淭hey 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 鈥� it鈥檚 hypocrisy on steroids. Their baseless objections tell us now, more than ever, that we are precisely over the target and will remain on mission until completion.鈥�
Recently released regarding Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election have given Trump allies new ammunition in their argument that the president was unfairly treated in what Mr. Trump calls the 鈥淩ussia hoax鈥� or 鈥淩ussiagate.鈥� Multiple investigations and reports, including one from the in 2020, have found that while Russia aggressively sought to influence the 2016 election against the Hillary Clinton campaign, there was no evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
The Comey indictment is not without precedent. In 1978, L. Patrick Gray, former acting head of the FBI during Watergate, was charged with violating Americans鈥� constitutional rights over warrantless break-ins of homes. The charges were later dropped.
But, today, the Comey indictment comes amid the threat of more sweeping prosecutorial action, which some political observers see as having a chilling effect across government.
At the same time, Democrats say Mr. Trump is protecting his friends, such as border security czar Tom Homan and New York Mayor Eric Adams. Last year, Mr. Homan allegedly accepted a bag containing $50,000 from undercover FBI agents in a case of suspected influence-peddling. Earlier this year, Trump Justice Department officials closed the investigation.
In New York, the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office dropped federal corruption charges against Mayor Adams earlier this year, on orders from the Justice Department. Several prosecutors in the case resigned after being put on administrative leave.
Among the high-profile figures Mr. Trump is pursuing through legal action, the costs go beyond the threat of prison.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 really matter, in some ways, if you can convict a lot of these people,鈥� says Professor Saltzburg, referring to people Mr. Trump sees as adversaries. 鈥淚f you can investigate them and require them to hire lawyers, and defend against investigations, you can impose costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars on them.鈥�
Mr. Comey, after his indictment, expressed both sadness and optimism.
鈥淢y heart is broken for the Department of Justice,鈥� Mr. Comey said. 鈥淚 have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I am innocent, so let鈥檚 have a trial, and keep the faith.鈥�
Still, for the country as a whole, some political observers struggle to see a hopeful way out of the current trajectory. Chris Edelson, a political scientist at American University in Washington, sees a president acting without restraint.
鈥淲hen [Mr. Trump] acts, he鈥檚 constantly seeing how far he can go, and nothing is ever enough for him,鈥� Professor Edelson says.
鈥淚t is clear what Donald Trump intends to do,鈥� Mr. Edelson continues. 鈥淗e intends to use every mechanism available to him to punish his perceived enemies in a fundamentally undemocratic, opposed to democracy, and un-American way, the kind of thing we associate with dictatorships. And he will do it if no one stops him, if people go along with what he wants.鈥�
Staff writer Caitlin Babcock contributed to this report.
