Ex-DOJ prosecutor details damage 'Trump’s acolytes' could inflict in an 'age of politicized prosecutions'

During a recent appearance on far-right Benny Johnson's radio show, Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Lara Trump called for her father-in-law's incoming administration to use the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as a tool of revenge against his enemies.

Lara Trump told Johnson, "This is just the beginning, Benny. If you think this is good, wait till Donald Trump gets in there. Wait till Kash Patel gets in there. Wait till Tulsi Gabbard gets in there. Wait till these people start shining a light at all the dark places that the Democrats and the establishment never wanted us to go."

In an op-ed published by The Hill on December 18, legal author James D. Zirin — a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York — warns that the United States will be entering an "age of politicized prosecutions" after President-elect Donald Trump's second term gets underway.

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"Trump has vowed revenge — to put his political enemies in jail, possibly including special counsel Jack Smith, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)," Zirin explains. "According to NPR, Trump during the campaign 'made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies.' Revenge prosecutions had always been alien to our laws and our way of life. No longer."

Zirin notes that even when "an indictment cannot fly," a "grand jury investigation" could "impoverish or destroy the target."

"Using the criminal justice system for political revenge is the odious behavior of the Putins and Assads of the world," Zirin writes. "That’s why America has a Constitution. Trump’s threats loom so ominous that President Biden is reportedly considering preemptive pardons for categories of people who have not been charged that Trump might go after."

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Zirin is especially worried about what Pam Bondi (Trump's pick for U.S. attorney general) and Kash Patel (Trump's choice for FBI director) will do if confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2025.

"Whether or not there are prosecutions of Trump's enemies, Trump's acolyte Kash Patel, who may lead the FBI, can investigate the hell out of anyone who has held the line against MAGA," Zirin notes. "Then, Pam Bondi — Trump's other acolyte, his second pick for attorney general — may get them before a federal grand jury. If she can't make anything stick, there is always the option of civil investigations and lawsuits delving into the finances, businesses and tax returns of anyone fitting the description of a political enemy. Who said we are a government of laws, not men?"

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James D. Zirin's full op-ed for The Hill is available at this link.