Sadie Gurman
Appearances
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
But throughout the hearing, she basically echoed the central criticisms that Trump has been saying time and time again, that the Justice Department was turned into a crudgel to go after him. She certainly shares that view. There's basically no daylight between them in terms of you know, the types of changes that they think need to be made to this institution.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
I mean, people inside the Justice Department, the career employees, are scared. You know, they're worried for their own jobs, but they're also feeling very angry and disappointed that the work that they've done over the past four years and beyond is... bit by bit, just being totally undone. And I think you saw that with the January 6th pardons.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
People who pursued those cases, who were detailed from other cities to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. for years to pursue those cases are now seeing the effects of their work washed away to some extent. And so I think there's just a lot of bad feeling within the Bureau. Interesting.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Yeah, I mean, there's always some growing pains and some changes that take place when a Republican administration comes after a Democrat and vice versa. I mean, the priorities of these parties are just different. And so, you know, there's always some movement. But this is really, really striking. And it's more intense and more poignant than it was during Trump's first administration term.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
And I just think there's a lot less concern being paid to can we do this? It's more just like, let's do it.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Well, recall that Trump. openly lamented choosing his first two attorneys general when they resisted some of his more extreme demands. And given what we've seen in the first few days in office, he seems more determined now than ever to bend the Justice Department to his will. And so what I will be watching for, of course, are signs of when senior Justice Department officials
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
cave to that pressure or agree with that pressure. And I will look to see how close this historically independent institution, how much it becomes more fully an arm of Trump's agenda.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
So this is basically, I see it as a roadmap for the retribution that Trump promised against the Justice Department and in particular the prosecutors who pursued criminal charges against him over the past four years. But also the Republicans have been very critical of DOJ arguing that it's You know, that it was infected with politics and that it was biased against conservatives, not just Trump.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
And it sought to silence certain voices. So this sweeping executive order calls for the attorney general to literally go through all of the Justice Department's work over the past four years during the Biden administration and examine it for instances of perceived bias and rectify it.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Well, I mean, we have already started to see people being moved out of their positions, being marginalized, pushed into different roles. So they can do stuff like that, but they can also – Trump and his nominees have also threatened to take legal action against employees.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
And people who have left the Justice Department are also in fear that they could face criminal charges, civil litigation, things like that. So there's really no limit to the way that Trump could make these decisions. DOJ employees' lives hell over the next few years.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Yes, I was surprised because even in recent days, he had been telling people close to him that he would consider granting clemency to these people on a case-by-case basis. Vice President J.D. Vance went on television and said that people who committed violence against police officers during the riot, of course, should not be pardoned.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
And so I definitely thought it was going to be a narrower swath of people. I mean, there are many, many people charged with misdemeanors who didn't commit violence, but there were also hundreds of people who beat cops and you know, a destroyed property and just, you know, ransacked the Capitol. So it was stunning.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
I think we saw a very favorable reaction from senators during Pam Bondi's confirmation hearing. You know, of course, Democrats are strongly opposed to her, but in comparison to some of Trump's other more controversial nominees, Pam Bondi has not generated that many negative headlines. She was certainly speaking to a friendly crowd. She sought to sort of walk this line between
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Trump's ardent defender and this sort of old school, traditional tough on crime prosecutor.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
And that was intended to appeal to both the Republican base and to sort of give a nod to the error that the attorney general is supposed to be independent from the White House.
The Journal.
Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term
Yes, it did seem to me like she was on board with that agenda completely. I mean, she said things like politics won't play a role in my decisions and I'll be the one making the decisions, not the White House.