Congressional Republicans decry DOJ politicization as Trump vows to target his enemies

Immediately after former President Donald Trump revealed on June 8 that he had been indicted and charged with multiple federal felonies, he and his allies began trying to frame the U.S. Department of Justice’s case against him as a political prosecution and an attack on democracy. But the same congressional Republicans who are proposing to defund federal law enforcement to stop what they call political prosecutions have been silent on Trump’s open plans to go after his enemies if he regains the White House.

As Trump was arraigned in Miami on Tuesday, his campaign tweeted out a video of spokesperson Alina Habba saying:

The decision to pursue charges against President Trump while turning a blind eye to others is emblematic of the corruption that we have here. We are at a turning point in our nation’s history. The targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela. It is commonplace there for rival candidates to be prosecuted, persecuted, and put into jail. What is being done to President Trump should terrify all citizens of this country. These are not the ideals that our democracy is founded upon. This is not our America.

Republicans in Congress made similar arguments.

“Ford decided not to prosecute Nixon, Trump decided not to prosecute Hillary, but Biden’s DOJ decided to target Trump, conduct a SWAT team search, and indict a former president, interfering in yet another election,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson falsely claimed on June 11.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik tweeted on Wednesday, “Our Republic is on the brink with one set of rules if your last name is Biden or Clinton, and another set of rules for President Trump and everyone else.”

“The entire prosecution of President Trump is POLITICAL,” Florida Rep. Adam Gaetz tweeted.

“We’re witnessing our Constitutional Republic transform into a banana republic right before our eyes. All at the hands of Joe Biden and our corrupt justice system,” tweeted Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde.

“The DOJ applies a double standard to Trump,” claimed Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser. “Biden kept classified documents for decades, and the enormous evidence of foreign payoffs is mounting — yet he goes uncharged. Now, he’s weaponized the DOJ against his leading competitor for the presidency. It’s a sad day in America.”

Georgia Rep. Mike Collins and Texas Rep. Tim Burchett proposed defunding the Department of Justice in retaliation for prosecuting Trump.

But Republicans in Congress have stayed silent on Trump’s promises to go after his own political enemies.

In a 2016 campaign debate, Trump vowed to have a special prosecutor go after his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after the election. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly encouraged his supporters to chant “Lock her up.” After taking office, he reportedly pressured the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton.

On Tuesday, Trump told supporters that he would force the Justice Department to target President Joe Biden if he wins back the White House in 2024.

“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire crime family. Name a special prosecutor,” Trump vowed. “I will totally obliterate the Deep State.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.