Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump called Friday for more of his political opponents to face criminal charges as he cheered the indictment of former FBI director James Comey and branded him a “dirty cop.” The Republican’s comments step up an extraordinary, undisguised campaign of retribution against those who oppose him that defies decades of norms in US politics.
“Frankly I hope there are others,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about Comey’s indictment on Thursday. “It’s not revenge. It’s also about the fact that you can’t let this go on.” Presidents have historically bent over backward — at least in public — to show clear separation between the White House and the Justice Department. Trump has smashed that precedent, making clear he intends to influence Comey’s case — and others.
Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice in connection with the probe he conducted into whether Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. “He’s a dirty cop, he’s always been a dirty cop,” Trump told reporters about Comey, echoing an earlier post on his Truth Social network in which he declared him guilty. The charges against the former FBI chief came days after Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and others he sees as enemies. They included Leticia James, who, as New York’s state prosecutor, brought a civil fraud case against Trump, and California Senator Adam Schiff, who led the prosecution at the president’s first impeachment in 2019.
Asked who would be next for prosecution, Trump said: “It’s not a list, but I think there will be others.” Trump has used his office since returning to power in January to pressure a huge variety of individuals and institutions that either opposed him in the past or, as in the case of several media outlets, had sought to maintain their independence from him.
Current FBI chief Kash Patel on Friday denied accusations from Democrats that the Comey charges were politically linked. “The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate — it’s hypocrisy on steroids,” Patel posted on X.
The charges against Comey are the most dramatic instance yet of Trump’s retribution drive. Comey faces up to five years in prison if convicted, according to federal prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, who was appointed by Trump just days ago to pursue the case. A former personal lawyer to the president, she has no experience as a prosecutor.
In a video posted on Instagram, Comey said, “I’m not afraid,” and denied any wrongdoing. Comey has been prominent during Trump’s second term, as a critic of what he says are the Republican’s efforts to weaponize the justice system for his own political use. But Trump’s feud with Comey goes back to the early days of his tumultuous first term when Comey was the director of the FBI. Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential vote — an issue that dogged the Republican throughout his first term.
Trump has vowed to take revenge on all who investigated him in the affair, which he brands the “Russia hoax.” His intelligence chiefs have issued reports casting the original probes as politically motivated and flawed. But the case against Comey has been criticized as deeply flawed from the start. The five-year statute of limitations on his alleged lying to Congress expires Tuesday, forcing prosecutors to rush to indict. The chief prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to press charges but then left her job under pressure from Trump — and was replaced by the inexperienced Halligan.
© 2024 AFP
