Imagine a scenario in which an investigative reporter uncovered a secret document from the White House. The document, in this hypothetical, showed Donald Trump quietly directing his attorney general to manufacture criminal cases against his political foes, without regard for evidence or propriety, as part of a brazenly corrupt and overtly authoritarian scheme.

In this scenario, the investigative reporter who obtained this secret document would, in a normal and healthy democracy, have a scoop for the ages. The public exposure of such a document would instantly become the kind of story that would rock the political system, spark heated congressional hearings and generate questions about possible resignations.

But in 2025, there’s apparently no need for an investigative reporter to uncover a clandestine plot — because the president published his scheme online for all the world to see. The New York Times reported:

President Trump demanded on Saturday that his attorney general move quickly to prosecute figures he considers his enemies, the latest blow to the Justice Department’s tradition of independence. ‘We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,’ Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post addressed to ‘Pam,’ meaning Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The online missive was head-spinning in its absurdity. Trump began his message, “I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”

In other words, to hear the president tell it, he saw some “posts” from unnamed people who want some of Trump’s political adversaries to be punished, because they’re “guilty” of unidentified crimes, and these “posts” should necessarily spur action from the Justice Department, because the president said so.

Concluding that “they” impeached him and tried to hold him accountable for a variety of alleged felonies, the Republican concluded that he’s desperate to turn the tables on his enemies. “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” he wrote.

In case that was too subtle, Trump spoke briefly with reporters soon after, one of whom asked whether he was criticizing Bondi for not having already gone after his domestic adversaries. “No, I just want people to act,” the president replied. “They have to act, and we want to act fast. … We have to act fast.”

The Times’ report added, “Even for a president who has shattered the traditional norms of maintaining distance from the Justice Department, Mr. Trump’s unabashedly public and explicit orders to Ms. Bondi were an extraordinary breach of prosecutorial protocols that reach back to the days following the Watergate scandal.”

The Watergate reference is notable in large part because it helps contextualize the gravity of the circumstances: Trump isn’t just being accused of trying to weaponize federal law enforcement, he’s publicly flaunting his efforts.

His online directive was, for all intents and purposes, a confession in which he freely acknowledged his guilt. “Yes, I admit that I’m pressuring my attorney general to prosecute my political foes,” the president effectively declared. “And I’d prefer it if she hurried up and satisfied my hunger for revenge sooner rather than later.”

There’s no precedent in the American tradition for such explicit corruption of the rule of law. It is the stuff of impeachment resolutions. It is a brazen display of a desperate man who believes he’s both above the law and freed from the burdens of accountability.