'Department of Revenge': Trump now has 'his personal police force'

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

During Donald Trump's first presidency, he had major clashes with two conservative U.S. attorneys general he appointed: first Jeff Sessions, then Bill Barr. But during his second presidency, Trump was careful to appoint full-fledged MAGA loyalists to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI — including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and District of Columbia federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro (a former Fox News host).

In a scathing opinion column published by The Hill on September 30, journalist Bill Press argues that the DOJ should be renamed "The Department of Revenge" because Trump is using it to take revenge on political enemies — including former FBI Director James Comey, now indicted on two criminal charges.

"It wasn't long ago that the Department of Justice was respected by members of both parties as the one federal agency above politics," Press explains. "It was led by an attorney general focused only on enforcing the law, immune to political pressure — even from the president who had appointed him. In 1973, Republican Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus became national heroes for defying Republican President Richard Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. More recently, in November 2018, Republican Attorney General Jeff Sessions was celebrated for resigning rather than obey President Trump's orders to personally oversee the Russia investigation. In both cases, a Republican attorney general stood up to a Republican president and said the Department of Justice's job is to follow the law and the Constitution, not to follow the political agenda of the White House."

Press continues, "But that's not the way it is today. Trump sees the Justice Department as his personal police force to pursue his political enemies, and in Pam Bondi, he's found a compliant attorney general more than willing to do his dirty work for him. Case in point: the ridiculous indictment of Trump's former FBI director, James Comey, for allegedly lying to Congress five years ago."

Press emphasizes that if the U.S. Defense Department can be renamed the War Department, there's no reason not to rename DOJ as well.

"After celebrating Comey's indictment and calling him a 'liar' and a 'dirty cop,'" Press observes, "Trump warned that he wasn't going to stop there. He's also promised to have Bondi pursue charges against other political enemies, including his former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, philanthropist George Soros, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, and a handful of women protestors who showed up at Joe's Restaurant when he was dining out."

Press adds, "To borrow a phrase, this is the complete 'weaponization' of the Justice Department, which Trump once complained about but is now practicing with glee. But it's no longer the Justice Department. Its mission is no longer to defend the Constitution. Under Donald Trump, its mission is to settle scores against his political enemies. So in the spirit of the renaming of the War Department, let's change the name of the Justice Department and call it what it now is: the 'Department of Revenge.'"

Bill Press' full column for The Hill is available at this link.

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