On the surface, the principal problem with the Republican hysteria about the Biden administration “weaponizing” the Justice Department is that the GOP conspiracy theories were absurd. There was never any credible evidence to suggest the Democratic White House or Attorney General Merrick Garland abused their powers or politicized federal law enforcement in any way, at any time, in any case.
But just below the surface, there was a related problem: The Republican hysteria was also ironic. It was Donald Trump, in his first term, who did exactly what the GOP falsely accused Joe Biden of doing: There’s overwhelming and uncontested evidence that Trump spent much of his first term trying to transform agencies and officials — including prosecutors — into his own personal attack dogs.
Trump’s former White House chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, went so far as to alert the public to the fact that the president “regularly” wanted to use the Justice Department to retaliate against critics.
In the Republican’s second term, he’s picking up where he left off — and by some measures, making matters worse. NBC News reported:
President Donald Trump directed federal agencies Wednesday to revoke the security clearances and review the activities of two high-level former government officials who questioned his election fraud claims and his conduct in his first term.
Let’s take these one at a time.
Trump fired Krebs — not because he’d done anything wrong but because the president wanted him to go along with his lies about the election results.
During Trump’s first term, Christopher Krebs led the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which was responsible for combatting foreign interference in our elections and preventing attacks. Krebs earned bipartisan praise for his work, and after the 2020 election cycle, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius noted, “When the history books about this election are written, Krebs will be one of the heroes.”
The day Ignatius’ column was published, Trump fired Krebs — not because he’d done anything wrong but because the president wanted him to go along with his lies about the election results. When Krebs instead told the truth, he was shown the door.
Four and a half years later, Trump issued an order that not only described Krebs as a “significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority” — a claim the president made while abusing his government authority — it also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Homeland Security to “review” Krebs’ work and activities.
Miles Taylor, meanwhile, was a former high-ranking official in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security who became a prominent Trump critic, alerting the public to allegations that he personally witnessed the president’s corruption and ineptitude.
This is simply not the sort of thing that’s supposed to happen in a stable and healthy democracy.
Trump’s order, which called on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate Taylor’s activities, also said Taylor “stoked dissension.” Just as notably, the president, who has repeatedly disclosed sensitive information, suggested that his critic had “disclosed sensitive information,” adding, “[T]his conduct could properly be characterized as treasonous.”
Putting aside the obvious concern that such rhetoric is insane, it’s also worth emphasizing that “treason” is a word the president uses far too often, especially given that treason is a capital offense.
But as important as these details are, let’s not miss the forest for the trees: A sitting American president signed executive orders seeking investigations into former officials, not because they did anything wrong, but because they defied him. This is simply not the sort of thing that’s supposed to happen in a stable and healthy democracy. Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming described Trump’s latest moves as “Stalinesque.” J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the federal bench by President George HW Bush, published a related Bluesky thread on the orders, calling them “shameful” and “constitutionally corrupt,” while accusing Trump of “palpably unconstitutional conduct.” Luttig also encouraged Krebs and Taylor to “immediately bring lawsuits” against the administration for “vindictive/malicious prosecution, in violation of their rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S Constitution.” Indeed, if an investigative reporter had uncovered evidence that Trump had done this in private — quietly directing agencies to investigate critics without cause — it would be a front-page scandal. Trump, however, did it in public, practically bragging about his own abuse. But as Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut recently noted in an unrelated matter, “Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn’t mean it’s not corruption.” UPDATE (April 10, 2025, 2:26 p.m. ET): This post has been updated to include comments from J. Michael Luttig.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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