BREAKING: DOJ Creates New Pretext for Investigating Groups as Judges and Grand Juries Stand Up on Selective Prosecutions

Late Thursday evening, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a new memo directing the Department of Justice to investigate groups that oppose the President’s agenda. This announcement, which opens the door to the Justice Department investigating any organization, with little or no burden of proof, comes immediately after a federal grand jury declined to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James in a stunning rebuke of the Justice Department's weaponization against the President’s perceived opponents.

The new memo, issued to Justice Department attorneys on Thursday, directs the agency to build a list of potential targets, then pursue federal investigations of anyone who might be perceived as supporting domestic extremism. Bondi’s order follows on previous efforts to harass the President’s opponents in an approach described by one federal judge as "indict first, investigate second."

As AAGC has continually raised, it is not a crime to disagree with the government, and it is not a crime to oppose the President’s agenda. In fact, it is the basis of free and constitutionally protected speech in this country. The memo issued by Bondi attempts to undermine these constitutional principles, making it easier for the DOJ to harass and punish the President’s opponents.

AAGC Spokesperson Caitlin Legacki issued the following statement:

“No judge, ruling, or legal procedure will deter the President from seeking retribution against his political enemies. The DOJ’s new policy to pursue investigations of groups opposed to the President’s agenda by baselessly smearing them as terrorists, paired with their attempt to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James over a weak and politically fraught case, underscores how the Department of Justice has become a tool of the President’s political retribution agenda.

The grand jurors who declined to indict AG James made a very clear statement that no President—Democrat or Republican—should have the power to weaponize the levers of power against their opponents. There is no memo Bondi can issue that will change that, and it is once again a travesty that the Department of Justice, once the envy of the world, continues to expand its efforts to investigate people simply for opposing the President’s agenda.”

Background on antifa and “domestic extremism”

Although “antifa” is frequently invoked in political rhetoric, it is not—under U.S. law—a distinct organization that can be legally designated as a terrorist group. Multiple federal authorities, including the FBI have said antifa is best understood as a set of loosely connected beliefs and tactics, not a hierarchical group with leadership, membership rolls, or centralized funding.

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified to Congress that “antifa is more of an ideology or a movement than an organization.”

Because “antifa” lacks formal definition, there is no legal mechanism to designate it as a terrorist organization. Attempts to do so are unconstitutional and raise concerns about due process, free speech, and freedom of association.

By making these issues about support for “antifa”--an organization that does not legally or actually exist–rather than the commission of actual crimes, the Administration is creating a dynamic where any organization can be painted as “antifa” without basis, opening them to investigation and harassment from the Justice Department without limit.