Aug.11

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Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Trump's Retribution Tour Is in Full Swing

One promise Donald Trump made during his campaign was to get retribution on anyone who has ever crossed him. It is a promise he is carrying out thoroughly and with great enthusiasm. He is going far beyond accusing his enemies of misdeeds. He is using the full power of the federal government to try to fire, investigate, and prosecute some of them already. Often, the only thing they did wrong is criticize him for breaking the law. In many cases, the prosecutions will fail, but the targets will end up with huge legal bills and lives that are greatly disrupted. These investigations are also meant to send a message to anyone thinking of criticizing him in the future. Here are some of the people he is going after:

• Barack Obama: Trump has not forgotten about the Russian interference in the 2016 election. He has even accused Obama of treason for allegedly manufacturing the notion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on Trump's behalf. AG Pam Bondi has now opened a grand jury investigation into this, even though there is vast evidence that Russia did interfere and no evidence that Obama or anyone in his administration committed any crimes. Like so many of the others on this list, this is simply Trump punishing his enemies and making them run up serious legal bills.
  
  
• James Comey: Trump fired Former FBI Director James Comey for investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and its possible ties to Trump's campaign. Now the tables are turned and Trump has ordered the FBI to investigate Comey.
  
  
• John Brennan: The Russia investigation partly involved former CIA Director John Brennan. Trump has regularly attacked him. Now the FBI is investigating Brennan.
  
  
• Adam Schiff: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has had a special place in Trump's brain ever since Schiff managed Trump's impeachment while he was in the House. Trump has called him a thief and said he should be prosecuted. Schiff is sufficiently concerned that he hired Preet Bharara as his lawyer. The charge the DoJ is looking at has something to do with mortgage fraud, something Schiff vehemently denies.
  
  
• Liz Cheney: As co-chair of the Jan. 6 House Committee, Cheney has received her share of insults from Trump. He has called for a televised military tribunal for her, even though she is not in the military. So far there are no credible reports of the FBI investigating her, but given Trump's hatred of her, that could yet come.
  
  
• The Vindmans: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (ret.) testified before the House Jan. 6 Committee about a phone call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump tried to extort Zelenskyy into investigating Hunter Biden. Trump didn't like this very much. Vindman's twin brother, Eugene Vindman, was deputy legal adviser to the NSC and reported Trump's call to Zelenskyy to the NSC. Trump is not much of a fan of him either. Eugene is now the Democratic representative for VA-07. Earlier this year, then-interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin was investigating both Vindmans about a business venture of theirs.
  
  
• Letitia James: Trump really hates her because if her case is upheld on appeal, he may have to fork over half a billion dollars to New York State. The FBI is investigating her about a mortgage she cosigned for her niece (see above).
  
  
• Jack Smith: For Trump, he is the worst of the worst, a dogged prosecutor who indicted him for stealing government documents when he left the White House and for his actions on Jan. 6. When Trump won the 2024 election, the cases were suspended. Trump sicced the Office of Special Counsel on Smith for alleged violations of the Hatch Act.

Most of these cases will not get very far, as they are all made up. Smith is probably hoping that his case actually gets to trial. Then he could bring up some of the material he found as part of his defense. Trump certainly does not want that. (V)