Trump breaches boundaries by saying DOJ should be ‘going after’ Democrats
"In his brief career as president and a candidate for president, Mr. Trump has attacked virtually every major institution in American life:"
Play Video 1:01 Trump wants to breach traditional boundaries with the Justice Department President Trump mounts increasing pressure on the Justice Department to investigate his former campaign rival Hillary Clinton, criticisms that have grown amid the charges against Trump's three campaign officials. (Joyce Koh/TWP)
By Philip Rucker and Matt Zapotosky November 3 at 7:14 PM
President Trump on Friday repeatedly called on the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate his Democratic political opponents, a breach of the traditional executive branch boundaries designed to prevent the criminal justice system from becoming politicized.
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“I’m really not involved with the Justice Department,” Trump said. “I’d like to let it run itself. But honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats .?.?. And a lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department, including me.”
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“You know, the saddest thing is, because I am the president of the United States, I am not supposed to be involved with the Justice Department. I’m not supposed to be involved with the FBI,” Trump said. “I’m not supposed to be doing the kind of things I would love to be doing and I am very frustrated by it.”
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Play Video 0:42 President Trump called for "stronger justice" in terrorism cases, saying the U.S. is currently a "laughingstock." The president's remarks came a day after a terrorist attack in New York City on Oct. 31. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
“President Trump’s pressuring of the Justice Department and FBI to pursue cases against his adversaries and calling for punishment before trials take place are totally inappropriate and not only undermine our justice system but erode the American people’s confidence in our institutions,” Corker said.
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Trump’s comment sparked a torrent of criticism, including from former attorney general Michael Mukasey, who worked under former Republican president George W. Bush and was a vocal Clinton critic.
“It would be like a banana republic,” Mukasey, who could not be reached for comment Friday, said at the time. “Putting political opponents in jail for offenses committed in a political setting, even if they are criminal offenses — and they very well may be — is something that we don’t do here.”
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