The DOJ's revenge agenda
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What happened when a judge threw out indictments tied to interim US attorney Lindsey Halligan?
President Trump is openly using the Department of Justice to get revenge on his enemies.
The Justice Department is reviewing the investigation into alleged mortgage fraud by California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.
The Justice Department has now officially opened a criminal investigation into Lisa Cook
President Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton, has just been indicted.
It hasn't always gone smoothly. In late September, the president sent a message to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Truth Social that was probably supposed to be in the DMs. Pam, he wrote.
Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam Shifty Schiff, Letitia? They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.
The DOJ indicted Comey and Letitia within weeks. Then on Monday, a judge threw out those two indictments, prompting a surprisingly weak protest from Trump.
So let's see what happens over the next week.
Coming up on today, explain the DOJ's revenge agenda and the lawyers who are saying no to it.
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They looked at Today Explained in there and did Today Explained in there. We have no idea.
Emily Bazelon is a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. Emily writes a lot about the long arm of the law. All right, Emily, so as I understand it, the dismissal of these cases had to do with a woman named Lindsay Halligan. Who is Lindsay Halligan?
Lindsay Halligan is supposed to be the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. But a judge found that she was improperly appointed to that position. The reason she was chosen for it is that she has been a personal lawyer for Donald Trump. And her main area of practice is insurance law, not criminal justice. The government seems to be out of control. It's plagued with manipulation, corruption, greed, deceit and fraud. Did she have any qualifications for the job? She didn't have any experience as a prosecutor. No. How did she end up with that job? Well, President Trump cares deeply about indicting James Comey and Letitia James and other people he perceives as political enemies.
We can't delay any longer. It's killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me five times over nothing. Justice must be served now.
The Eastern District of Virginia was investigating these people. And the person who was the acting U.S. attorney in this district, whose name is Eric Siebert, normie, conservative appointee, lots of prosecutorial experience. Based on the investigations that the people in his office were doing, Eric Siebert said he did not think there was enough evidence to prosecute James or Comey. And at that point, he was forced to resign. And Lindsey Halligan was brought in as his replacement very much to bring these charges against these specific targets of President Trump. But because of the unusual way that Halligan came in after the career prosecutors had decided there wasn't enough evidence to bring these charges, she basically had to do it herself.
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