The memo satisfies the longstanding contention of Trump and his allies that the Justice Department under the Biden administration had become “weaponized” against conservatives, even though some of its most high-profile probes concerned the Democratic president and his son and there’s been no evidence to support the idea that the prosecutions against Trump were launched for a partisan purpose.
Bondi herself had foreshadowed the working group’s creation by asserting at her confirmation hearing last month that the Justice Department had “targeted Donald Trump.”
Bondi, who was Florida’s first female attorney general before becoming a lobbyist, is likely to be one of the most closely scrutinized members of Trump’s Cabinet, given her close relationship the president, who during his 2024 campaign suggested that he would try to exact revenge on his perceived enemies.
Bondi has said that politics will play no role in her decision-making, but she also refused at her confirmation hearing last month to rule potential investigations into Trump's adversaries. She also has repeated Trump's claims that the prosecutions against him amounted to political persecution, telling senators that the Justice Department "had been weaponized for years and years and years, and it's got to stop."
Despite the wide-ranging ambitions of the “weaponization working group” memo, there’s no indication that the group will have prosecutorial powers or tools such as subpoenas that could compel subjects of the inquiries to cooperate with the new unit.
And though the memo purports to take aim at the “weaponization” of the Justice Department, it notably excludes from review investigations into Democrats by Biden's Justice Department, including special counsel probes into the former president's handling of classified information and his son Hunter's gun and tax allegations, which resulted in felony convictions.
Smith's team investigated Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both of those cases resulted in indictments that were withdrawn after Trump's November presidential win because of longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.
Smith has said politics played no part in his decisions and the evidence his team gathered was sufficient enough to convict Trump on charges of scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Before Bondi was sworn by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the Oval Office early Wednesday, Trump praised Bondi's record as a prosecutor and said she will "end the weaponization of federal law enforcement."
Bondi told the president that she would not let him down.
“I will make you proud and I will make this country proud,” she said. “I will restore integrity to the Justice Department and I will fight violent crime throughout this country and throughout this world, and make America safe again," Bondi said.
As attorney general Bondi will oversee the FBI, which is in turmoil over the scrutiny of agents involved in Trump-related investigations. On Tuesday, FBI employees filed two lawsuits to halt the collection and potential dissemination of names of investigators after the acting deputy attorney general demanded the names on Friday to determine whether additional personnel decisions were merited.
Bove later said in a memo to the workforce Wednesday that FBI agents "who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" are not at risk of being fired. The only employees who should be concerned, Bove wrote, "are those who aced with corrupt or partisan intent."
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