Statement: The Administration Expands Its Political Retribution Campaign

Americans Against Government Censorship Executive Director Cole Leiter released the following statement in response to the federal indictment of New York Attorney General Tish James - a long time target of the administration:

“The Trump administration’s latest move to weaponize the Justice Department against his perceived enemies is as dangerous as it is predictable. After career prosecutors raised concerns about the case against New York Attorney General Letitia James and refused to bring it forward, Trump forced out the sitting U.S. Attorney—over the objections of his own aides and Republican officials—and replaced him with his personal lawyer, an insurance attorney who has never tried a criminal case, to secure an indictment.”

“This isn’t law enforcement; it’s retribution. The fact that a U.S. Attorney’s Office was reshaped to punish one of Trump’s political adversaries underscores how far the administration is willing to go to bend the justice system to go after its ideological opponents.

“Every time this administration turns the machinery of government into a political weapon, it erodes public trust, undermines accountability, and makes Americans less safe.”

Today’s indictment follows two deeply reported stories: one from The Wall Street Journal revealing that prosecutorial directives are now coming directly from the Oval Office, and another from Reuters detailing the administration’s whole-of-government campaign to defund its ideological opponents — at a time when 62% of Americans say Donald Trump has improperly encouraged federal investigations of his political opponents.