From the moment #JamesComey was charged with lying to & obstructing Congress, his lawyers have asserted that the prosecution was little more than an act of vindictive #retribution fueled by #Trump’s longstanding animus against him.

Wed morning, the lawyers are set to make that argument in court & to persuade a federal judge that the case should be dismissed because the #DOJ effectively allowed itself to be taken captive by Trump’s desire to seek political #revenge.

#law
nytimes.com/2025/11/19/us/poli…

#GiftArticle

The Unraveling of the #DOJ

60 attys describe a year of #chaos & suspicion.

Trump’s 2nd term has brought a period of turmoil & controversy unlike any in the history of DOJ. #Trump & his appointees have blasted through the walls designed to protect the nation’s most powerful #law enforcement agency from political #influence; they have directed the course of criminal investigations, openly flouted #ethics rules & caused a breakdown of institutional culture.

nytimes.com/interactive/2025/1…

60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department

Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

^{Emily Bazelon (The New York Times)}

Using his clemency power, Trump has undone prosecutions made by his own DOJ during his first term.

Experts say the actions show a broad contempt for the justice system: “He’s rejecting ... the work of people he appointed but didn’t fully control.”
propublica.org/article/trump-p…

#News #Law #USPolitics #Trump #DOJ #Justice #Pardons

A Tale of Two Terms: How Powerful Figures Were Prosecuted in Trump’s First Term, Then Pardoned in His Second

We found that Donald Trump has granted clemency in at least a dozen criminal cases that originated during his first term. No other president has used clemency to erase his own appointees’ actions on such a scale.

^{cengiz.yar@propublica.org (ProPublica)}