WASHINGTON — President Trump appeared to openly pressure Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute some of his most prominent political foes while venting about her performance atop the Justice Department in a Truth Social post.
The president grumbled that former FBI director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) are all “guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
“I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia???,’” Trump groused in the Truth Social post.
It is not immediately clear who brought Trump the material that he complained about.
Bondi has garnered criticism within the conservative movement for various issues, such as her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein drama and, more recently, her suggestion that hate speech isn’t protected by the First Amendment.
Trump also appeared to gripe over his administration’s nomination of Erik Siebert to be the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia. The president had announced that the withdrawal of that nomination just after midnight on Saturday.
Siebert, who was serving as acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had told staff that he resigned on Friday amid alleged pressure from the Trump administration over the mortgage fraud probe he was overseeing into James.
The president has since announced the nomination of his former lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, to the post.
“Then we almost put in a Democrat-supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past,” Trump further complained. “A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard.”
“He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so,” the president continued.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
“They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted Trump’s post as signaling a “real threat to democracy” and warned that the attitude that the president espoused is “the path to a dictatorship.”
Just over an hour after his stunning attack on the head of the Justice Department, Trump then proceeded to heap praise on Bondi.
“Pam Bondi is doing a GREAT job as Attorney General of the United States. She is very careful, very smart, loves our Country, but needs a tough prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia,” he effused.
“What we don’t need is a Democrat Endorsed ‘Republican.’”
Reporters questioned Trump yesterday about whether he was irked by Bondi and the president claimed that he wasn’t — but simply wanted investigations into Schiff, James, Comey and others to wrap up.
“No. I just want people to act. They have to act. But now we want to act fast. You know, they were ruthless and vicious. I was impeached twice. I was indicted,” he said, when asked.
“We have to act fast. If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty or if they should be judged, they should be charged. And we have to do it now.”
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