Dan Pfeiffer

Nixon drew up an enemies list.

He took it to the IRS.

He badgered the IRS to go after people, his political opponents, including left-leaning organizations like the Brookings Institute at the time.

When the IRS pushed back, he installed a special task force of the IRS to do exactly this, to go after his enemies.

It is one of the things that became – well, it wasn't as big a deal as the break-in.

It was one of the core charges of abuse of power that would have led to his impeachment had he not resigned.

And Trump is just doing it.

And the difference between what Trump does and what Nixon did is Nixon did it quietly.

And it had to be ferreted out by Woodward and Burstein and other reporters.

And Trump is standing up there just announcing these things for the world to see.

But it's the same thing.

It's the same abuse of power.

It's the same assault on democracy.

It's the same assault on the rule of law.

But it is what he is doing.

I mean, it's incredibly dangerous, right?

And this is even more – it's easier to weaponize this against more people than building a criminal case, taking it to a jury indictment.

You're now just like reading through people's finances, looking for something to go after, making them –

getting them audited, doing all these things to prolong the pain and send a message to this.

If you criticize the state, if you question the king, then you will pay a price.