On Trump’s Bullshit: Crying 'Witch Hunt' While Stirring the Cauldron

Trump claims weaponization of justice — while trying to do exactly that himself.

Seventh in the series, “On Trump’s Bullshit.” The first was published Aug. 21, and subsequent essays will be for paid subscribers.

One of Donald Trump’s most astonishing feats of bullshit is his constant refrain that he was a victim of a weaponized Justice Department. Despite literally no evidence this is the case — in fact, one could argue that the Biden Justice Department was cautious to a fault — Trump has convinced his loyal followers that he was indeed a target. Trump’s own suspect actions that led to prosecutions and investigations are ignored.

Now he justifies blatant interference into Justice Department operations — such as pressing for the prosecution of former FBI director James Comey even after line prosecutors said there was no case — because of his made-up claims that Biden did the same thing to him. It’s Trump who is weaponizing prosecutions.

Trump relies on a successful formula to convince people he’s a victim. First, he constantly repeats falsehoods, no matter how discredited. Second, he elevates mistakes made by his opponents to make them appear sinister. Third, he ignores or plays down his own malfeasance. Fourth, he exploits the complicated nature of prosecutions to create doubt. Fifth, he relies on his echo chamber of supporters in the conservative establishment to reinforce his message that he’s the victim of a “witch hunt.”

The Justice Department team led by Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland scrupulously tried to avoid politics in the federal Trump prosecutions. In fact, officials believed DOJ’s image was so damaged by Trump’s first term that, according to a Washington Post investigation, they first focused on restoring public trust, rather than immediately investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Biden himself stood back from the Justice Department, giving Garland full rein, even as Biden’s son was prosecuted and Biden himself faced a special prosecutor for mishandling classified documents. When Trump announced in November, 2022 that he was running again for president, Garland said the “extraordinary circumstance” — that Trump was likely to run against the sitting president — required appointing an independent prosecutor.

Such careful discretion was for naught. Trump acted as if Biden ordered every step — as Trump is doing in his second term — and the message stuck among Trump’s supporters.

Local investigations of Trump — in New York City, New York State, and Georgia — followed a different path, as detailed below. But there is no evidence that Biden’s Justice Department had any role in them, despite Trump’s efforts to manufacture a link.

Moreover, in every instance, the case started with Trump doing something that seemed to cross a line. Whether it was criminal was to be determined, though odds are it never will, except possibly in the New York case where Trump was convicted. And say what you will about the merits, but each investigation was assembled carefully, after months of work — not a slapdash proceeding that could barely win the minimum support of a grand jury just as the statue of limitations was about to run out.