Finally, a decent NYT article bringing all the receipts in documenting tRump's wholesale abuse of the DOJ prosecuting arm. Since his indictments by SC Jack Smith, the "weaponization" charges by tRump gained him some support, and few gave much attention to how *actual* capture of "law enforcement" played out during tRump's presidency.
Michael Schmidt's work here is a real public service, and directs proper attention toward tRump's constant threats to go ballistic on his "enemies" once back in office. tRump is not joking, he's done it before, and promises to up the ante significantly as soon as he's sworn
While the article by Schmidt is good, I have several problems with the way the Times handled it. From a write up I did elsewhere:
Newsworthy as this article is, I have some problems with the way The NY Times is handling it.
One is timing. Publishing this story on a weekend means it will likely get lost in the weekend news void — like the article published by the Times a week ago laying out how Chief Justice John Roberts worked behind the scenes at the Supreme Court to hand down rulings shielding Trump from prosecution. Running this story on a Monday at the start of the news cycle would likely get more followup stories and spark other outlets to report on it. It should be a blockbuster story — especially with Trump proclaiming loudly that he’s being unfairly prosecuted — but will it have legs?
The answer appears to be no.
The story has disappeared from The NY Times digital front page as of Sunday morning. Will there be anything about this on the Sunday talking head shows? My guess there is no as well — the media considers this old news barring any really shocking new developments. The shock bar has been raised really high by Trump after all.
Second, there’s an odd omission. Several people are cited in the article as having written books; Geoffrey Berman is quoted from his. But — The NY Times fails to give the titles of the books, which would seem to be basic journalism. One might speculate whether or not the Times is reluctant to make it easy for people to look more deeply into the story.
Third, there’s also the headline. You’d think a major story like this should have been displayed a little higher on the digital front page — unless the Times doesn’t think it’s all that major. It’s also a bit subtle. “As President, Trump Demanded Investigations of Foes. He Often Got Them”. Try some alternatives:
“Once Secret Documents Show How Trump Politicized DOJ to Attack His Enemies”
“Trump’s Claims About Politicized Prosecution Are a Confession of What He’s Done and Will Do”
“Trump Weaponized DOJ in First Term — Will Go All The Way in Second”
Fourth, an additional observation not specifically related to the Times article. Trump has been tweeting some wild accusations about Democrats and spewing them at his rallies. There’s a tendency by the media to gloss over them. It’s easy to take them as a sign of Trump’s ongoing mental decline and dismiss them. That would be a mistake.
Between Project 2025 and the Roberts Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, the accusations should be treated as threats Trump fully intends to carry out.
If anyone thinks that’s too extreme, look at Mark Robinson in North Carolina to see what’s acceptable in the Republican Party these days. Look at JD Vance dismissing the remarks attributed to Robinson.
Fifth, this isn’t exclusive to Trump. Republicans in Congress have turned Congressional hearings into political show trials when they have majority power. They have engaged in open lawfare, aided and abetted by the partisan judges they have installed at all levels of the judiciary.
I'm surprised Bill Barr wasn't mentioned. As AG, Barr added to the DOJ corruption and killed several investigations into trump wrongdoing. Here's just one:
Why No One Went to Prison for Rudy Giuliani’s Hunter Biden Corruption
"Want to know how Rudy Giuliani was allowed to solicit dirt from Russian spies to help Trump get elected, without accountability? Want to know why Barr is considered a critic of Trump rather than his most corrupt enabler? Ask the journalists who lost interest in that story as soon as Rudy released a laptop full of Hunter Biden’s dick pics.
From Russia with Lev begins to reverse all that. But as infuriating as it is, it barely scratches the surface."
From Russia with Lev, Rachel Maddow’s first movie just out is a must see on MSNBC to understand how corrupt Attorney Bill Barr was in this regard during Trump’s term.
Great column. I especially appreciate the link to nytimes video.
Thank you again and again.
Finally, a decent NYT article bringing all the receipts in documenting tRump's wholesale abuse of the DOJ prosecuting arm. Since his indictments by SC Jack Smith, the "weaponization" charges by tRump gained him some support, and few gave much attention to how *actual* capture of "law enforcement" played out during tRump's presidency.
Michael Schmidt's work here is a real public service, and directs proper attention toward tRump's constant threats to go ballistic on his "enemies" once back in office. tRump is not joking, he's done it before, and promises to up the ante significantly as soon as he's sworn
Bottom line, if you are still on twitter, get off now.
Great compilation today, as usual. Thank you!!
While the article by Schmidt is good, I have several problems with the way the Times handled it. From a write up I did elsewhere:
Newsworthy as this article is, I have some problems with the way The NY Times is handling it.
One is timing. Publishing this story on a weekend means it will likely get lost in the weekend news void — like the article published by the Times a week ago laying out how Chief Justice John Roberts worked behind the scenes at the Supreme Court to hand down rulings shielding Trump from prosecution. Running this story on a Monday at the start of the news cycle would likely get more followup stories and spark other outlets to report on it. It should be a blockbuster story — especially with Trump proclaiming loudly that he’s being unfairly prosecuted — but will it have legs?
The answer appears to be no.
The story has disappeared from The NY Times digital front page as of Sunday morning. Will there be anything about this on the Sunday talking head shows? My guess there is no as well — the media considers this old news barring any really shocking new developments. The shock bar has been raised really high by Trump after all.
Second, there’s an odd omission. Several people are cited in the article as having written books; Geoffrey Berman is quoted from his. But — The NY Times fails to give the titles of the books, which would seem to be basic journalism. One might speculate whether or not the Times is reluctant to make it easy for people to look more deeply into the story.
Third, there’s also the headline. You’d think a major story like this should have been displayed a little higher on the digital front page — unless the Times doesn’t think it’s all that major. It’s also a bit subtle. “As President, Trump Demanded Investigations of Foes. He Often Got Them”. Try some alternatives:
“Once Secret Documents Show How Trump Politicized DOJ to Attack His Enemies”
“Trump’s Claims About Politicized Prosecution Are a Confession of What He’s Done and Will Do”
“Trump Weaponized DOJ in First Term — Will Go All The Way in Second”
Fourth, an additional observation not specifically related to the Times article. Trump has been tweeting some wild accusations about Democrats and spewing them at his rallies. There’s a tendency by the media to gloss over them. It’s easy to take them as a sign of Trump’s ongoing mental decline and dismiss them. That would be a mistake.
Between Project 2025 and the Roberts Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, the accusations should be treated as threats Trump fully intends to carry out.
If anyone thinks that’s too extreme, look at Mark Robinson in North Carolina to see what’s acceptable in the Republican Party these days. Look at JD Vance dismissing the remarks attributed to Robinson.
Fifth, this isn’t exclusive to Trump. Republicans in Congress have turned Congressional hearings into political show trials when they have majority power. They have engaged in open lawfare, aided and abetted by the partisan judges they have installed at all levels of the judiciary.
I'm surprised Bill Barr wasn't mentioned. As AG, Barr added to the DOJ corruption and killed several investigations into trump wrongdoing. Here's just one:
Why No One Went to Prison for Rudy Giuliani’s Hunter Biden Corruption
"Want to know how Rudy Giuliani was allowed to solicit dirt from Russian spies to help Trump get elected, without accountability? Want to know why Barr is considered a critic of Trump rather than his most corrupt enabler? Ask the journalists who lost interest in that story as soon as Rudy released a laptop full of Hunter Biden’s dick pics.
From Russia with Lev begins to reverse all that. But as infuriating as it is, it barely scratches the surface."
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/09/23/why-no-one-went-to-prison-for-rudy-giulianis-hunter-biden-corruption/
Another good source on DOJ's corruption by trump is Where Tyranny Begins by David Rohde.
Of course, now presidents are free to corrupt DOJ, as an official act.
From Russia with Lev, Rachel Maddow’s first movie just out is a must see on MSNBC to understand how corrupt Attorney Bill Barr was in this regard during Trump’s term.
It's pretty hard to forget since he has been weaponizing the DOJ as well as obstructing justice since he took office in January 2017 and continued to do so throughout his term ending in January 2020 and beyond. https://www.routledge.com/Indicting-the-45th-President-Boss-Trump-the-GOP-and-What-We-Can-Do-About/Barak/p/book/9781032454771.