Trump's Retribution Agenda Gets Underway With Criminal Referrals Against Officials Who Investigated Him

Jul 09, 2025

Donald Trump has been threatening to open investigations of his critics and political enemies, but Trump says a lot of things that no one ever follows up on. Now, however, his underlings are beginning to implement this vow, moving forward on criminal investigations of former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.

The New York Times reports:

John Ratcliffe, the CIA director and a harsh critic of his Democratic-appointed predecessors, has made a criminal referral of Mr. Brennan to the FBI, accusing him of lying to Congress, officials said. The bureau is also scrutinizing Mr. Comey for his role in the Russia investigation, other officials said, although the exact basis for any inquiry remains unclear.
Even if it is unclear whether the moves will lead to charges, they are among the most significant indications that President Trump’s appointees intend to follow through on his campaign to exact retribution against his perceived enemies. …
In 2018, the president told the White House counsel that he planned to order the Justice Department to prosecute Mr. Comey and Mrs. Clinton. The counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, rebuffed him, saying that he had no authority to do so. Mr. McGahn said that while he could request an investigation, that too could prompt accusations of abuse of power and drafted a memo warning that he could face a range of consequences, including impeachment. …
It is also not even clear if the Justice Department has legal authority to pursue charges if the FBI finds ample evidence to prosecute. Mr. Brennan’s testimony before the Senate is now seven years old, which appears to lie beyond the statute of limitations in such cases.

This is revenge for the investigation of Trump’s ties with Russia, even though the results of the Russia investigation have never been refuted. And while charges against either man are unlikely to succeed, remember the old adage that the process is the punishment. Being investigated and vilified will impose costs intended to deter future critics of Trump.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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