President Trump wants the Justice Department to punish his foes and protect his friends. In the past few days, he has taken steps to make that happen.
He ousted a federal prosecutor who failed to file charges against his political enemies, then filled the role with an inexperienced loyalist. And he publicly demanded that the attorney general go after his adversaries, even as the Justice Department quietly swept away a case against an ally.
Those moves “bulldozed the already faltering tradition of Justice Department independence from the White House,” my colleague Alan Feuer writes.
Today’s newsletter unpacks each of these episodes.
Not good enough
The prosecutor tasked with investigating Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, and James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, had recently given his superiors bad news. He couldn’t find enough evidence to bring charges against James, and he had concerns about a potential case against Comey.
That report, in Trump’s view, was unacceptable. The president says James and Comey deserve punishment — James for scoring fraud rulings against Trump and his company, Comey for investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Can the Justice Department Stay Independent Under Trump? appeared first on New York Times.
