Following Comey Indictment, Booker, Durbin, Senate Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers on the Politicization of DOJ as President Trump Pursues Criminal Charges Against His[...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senate Judiciary Democrats led by Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) in demanding answers from Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi about the continued weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in light of the forced resignation of Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Seibert and the indictment of former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey. In the letter, the lawmakers demand information on investigations against the President's perceived enemies and press AG Bondi to make several U.S. Attorneys and DOJ officials available for interviews by the Senate Judiciary Committee to understand the full scope of the President's campaign to weaponize DOJ.

Mr. Seibert's forced resignation, prompted by his refusal to pursue criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the indictment of Director Comey are just the latest examples of President Trump abusing the powers of DOJ to attack his political enemies.

"We write to express our alarm at the recent resignation of Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert after he refused to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey. Mr. Siebert's decision to resign after reportedly facing immense pressure from the White House and Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership-followed by the indictment of Director Comey by unqualified loyalist Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan-are the latest steps in President Trump's efforts to reshape the nation's leading law enforcement agency into a weapon focused on punishing his enemies," the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats wrote.

For months, President Trump and senior DOJ officials - including Ed Martin, head of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group - pressured Mr. Siebert to aggressively investigate and pursue criminal charges against the President's political enemies. Rather than caving to the President's demands, Mr. Siebert resigned. The President and AG Bondi then installed President Trump's former personal lawyer and MAGA loyalist Lindsey Halligan as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite Ms. Halligan having never prosecuted a case. She was sworn in just three days after Mr. Siebert's forced resignation, and Director Comey was indicted three days later.

In their letter, the Senators made clear that a thorough investigation by DOJ has reportedly failed to produce any evidence that AG James had committed a federal crime. The lawmakers emphasized that the indictment of DirectorComey and the pursuit of charges against AG James are nothing more than a blatant weaponization of DOJ to settle the President's personal scores. As the Senators note, the President publicly called for the prosecution of both AG James and Comey in a social media post that urged AG Bondi to charge multiple perceived political enemies of the President.

"Prior to taking office, every federal prosecutor takes an oath to faithfully execute their duties. They are required to follow the facts and the law prior to pursuing a criminal indictment against any individual, regardless of their political party or standing. After nearly five months and over a dozen interviews, the Department has reportedly been unable to find sufficient evidence that Attorney General James committed a federal crime to bring an indictment. Without such evidence, federal prosecutors cannot simply manufacture charges against an American citizen. President Trump's belief in an individual's guilt and his desire for personal retribution are not sufficient," the lawmakers continued.

"Following Mr. Siebert's resignation, the President went so far as to preemptively declare Attorney General James 'guilty as hell,' and then pressured you to charge his enemies, with a dramatic plea that, 'We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED NOW!!!'" the lawmakers wrote.

"Our justice system operates on the principle that the President cannot demand the prosecution of an individual to settle personal scores, let alone when there is no credible evidence that a person engaged in any wrongdoing," the lawmakers wrote.

The Senators delivered a scathing condemnation of the President's waste of DOJ's time and resources to fabricate criminal wrongdoing by perceived political enemies while covering up repeated corruption by the President's own supports and Administration officials.

"While DOJ wastes resources chasing President Trump's petty grievances, it is gaining the dubious reputation of pursuing cases with insufficient evidence and covering up reported corruption and criminal wrongdoing by the President's supporters, donors, and Administration officials. The redirection of valuable personnel and funds towards resolving the President's personal grievances and rewarding his political allies ignores real issues impacting American families and leaves our country less safe. The Department's capitulation to any demand to baselessly prosecute the President's enemies would represent a grave miscarriage of justice and a violation of your oath of office to support and defend the Constitution," the lawmakers wrote.

The Senators concluded their letter by demanding answers regarding any ongoing DOJ investigations by the DOJ Weaponization Working Group into AG James, White House Border Czar Tom Homan, Director Comey, current Members of Congress, or former Administration officials. The Senators further requested that several U.S. attorneys and DOJ officials, including Ms. Halligan; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro; Director of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group Ed Martin; and January 6 insurrectionist and senior adviser at DOJ Jared Wise; be made available for interviews by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Joining Booker and Durbin in sending the letter were U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

To read the full text of the letter, click here.