WASHINGTON: The top US Democratic senator warned Sunday that President Donald Trump’s call for the Justice Department to take action against his enemies puts America on a path to dictatorship.
Turning the agency “into an instrument that goes after his enemies, whether they’re guilty or not... is the path to a dictatorship,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on CNN. “That’s what dictatorships do.”
He added: “I think it’s a real threat to democracy.”
Trump publicly urged his Justice Department on Saturday to take action against his perceived enemies, the latest in a series of moves that critics say have shattered the agency’s traditional independence.
In a social media post addressing “Pam” — apparently Attorney General Pam Bondi — Trump fumed over the lack of legal action against California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.
Schiff and James are among a handful of people who have been accused by a close Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said.
On Friday, Trump fired the federal prosecutor who was overseeing the probe into James, after the attorney reportedly insisted there was insufficient evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.
Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told staff of his resignation via an email on Friday, the New York Times and other US media outlets reported.
“I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so,” Trump said Saturday, apparently referencing the probe into James.
On Friday, asked by a reporter to comment on the case, Trump said: “I am not following it very closely. It looks to me like she’s very guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”
Schiff and James have separately clashed with Trump in prior years, leading investigations that the Republican president alleges were political witch hunts.
During Trump’s first term in the White House, Schiff, then a member of the US House, led the prosecution at the president’s first impeachment trial, which was based on allegations he pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election.
After Trump left the White House, James brought a major civil fraud case against him, alleging he and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
A state judge ordered Trump to pay $464 million in that suit, but a higher court later removed the financial penalty while upholding the underlying judgment.
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