GOP defector explains how the Democrats can turn the tables on Trump

A former Republican congressman has a message for Democrats: They can turn President Donald Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department against him.

“Here’s the thing,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) posted on X on Wednesday. “Trump and his people sue everyone all the time. If I was president I’d have a group at DOJ start going through their depositions.”

Kizinger added, “If republicans are ok with this, then they must recognize the standard they set.”

The former GOP lawmaker was replying to a post by The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis, who wrote that “the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.”

Trump is investigating Carroll for supposedly perjuring herself when she sued the president, although experts are skeptical that the case has any merit. Between his two presidential terms, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll when he was still best known as a real estate mogul and she was a famous writer. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations, but Carroll presented enough evidence that a jury found in civil court it was more likely than not that Trump did indeed sexually assault her. She was awarded more than $88 million over two separate trials.

A former Air Force officer, Kinzinger has been a staunch critique of Trump despite his self-professed conservative opinions. Earlier this month, he appeared on CNN to blast the president’s foreign policy and behavior toward the military

“I can never remember a secretary of defense doing any campaigning for anybody whatsoever. Aren’t we at war? I thought we were at war,” Kinzinger told CNN. He later added that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has sent the message to the military that “he’s not serious… I’ve heard from more of my friends negative things about Pete Hegseth than I’ve heard about any other defense secretary. It didn’t start out that way. Initially, there were some things they were doing that they liked — reduction in some of the ancillary training that each military member had to do — but it’s turned into a show. It’s turned into an act.”

Kinzinger added that many in the military are angry at Trump’s lack of transparency and war against Iran.

“Many of them are engaged in the war in Iran in some way or another, and they knew the truth,” Kinzinger said. “Some of the missiles were getting through the defenses, and Hegseth would go out there and say everything’s fantastic and perfect and we won. So I think there’s been real damage to the trust the military has of Pete Hegseth.”

He has also warned that Trump is hurting the Republican Party through what he describes as humiliation rituals.

“He asked them to accept that his 91 criminal indictments were a political witch hunt — and they did, turning his mugshot into a fundraising image,” Kinzinger wrote. “Each ask was larger than the last. Each capitulation required more of them — more willingness to contradict their own eyes, their own values, their own stated beliefs.”

He added, “Every time MAGA accepts something they previously would have considered unacceptable, Trump’s hold on them gets stronger, not weaker. Because now they’ve paid a price. They’ve told their neighbors, their families, their coworkers, that they believe this. Walking it back would mean admitting they were wrong. And the movement doesn’t allow that.”