'We’re going to come after the people in the media': Trump ally calls for prosecuting journalists

Kash Patel, who was a counterterrorism official on former President Donald Trump's National Security Council, made a pledge to lead a "bench" of "all-America patriots" to prosecute journalists if his former boss wins a second term in the White House.

"We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media," Patel said in a recent appearance on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast. "Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out."

When the New York Times reached out to Patel to clarify his remarks, his spokeswoman, Erica Knight, sent the Times a statement from Patel: "When President Trump takes office in 2025, we will prosecute anyone that broke the law and end the weaponized, two tier system of justice."

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Patel's remarks about prosecuting journalists are in line with the former president's statements about media networks critical of his policies. In a November post to his Truth Social account, Trump said the "government should come down hard" on MSNBC and "make them pay" for the network's reporting on the ex-president.

"MSNBC (MSDNC) uses FREE government approved airwaves, and yet it is nothing but a 24 hour hit job on Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party for purposes of ELECTION INTERFERENCE," Trump wrote. "Brian Roberts, its Chairman and CEO, is a slimeball who has been able to get away with these constant attacks for years. It is the world’s biggest political contribution to the Radical Left Democrats who, by the way, are destroying our Country."

Trump has routinely targeted the media, and has referred to journalists as the "enemy of the people" since 2018. That same year, Florida man Cesar Sayoc, who was described as a "Donald Trump superfan," sent 16 pipe bombs to CNN's offices along with multiple prominent Democrats. He was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In addition to the media, Trump himself has vowed to weaponize the machinery of the federal government against his political enemies if given a second term. The Times reported that Trump particularly wants to direct the Department of Justice to prosecute opponents like President Joe Biden, even promising to appoint a special prosecutor to hound both the president and his family.

READ MORE: Trump: 'Government should come down hard' on MSNBC and 'make them pay' for criticizing him