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The recurring claim that the DOJ and FBI have been "weaponized"

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You're probably here because of the Apr 2026 rerun. This is the 14th time since 2017 this story has run. The previous rerun was Nov 2025.

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Since 2017, politicians and officials in both parties have said the Justice Department and FBI were being "weaponized" against political opponents. Trump and Republicans said this about the Russia investigation, the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search and the 2023–24 prosecutions of Trump, and in 2025 Attorney General Pam Bondi created a "Weaponization Working Group" to review those cases. Democrats and people charged in 2025–26, including James Comey, Letitia James and John Bolton, said the same about the Trump administration's prosecutions of its critics. The record is mixed. A 2019 inspector-general report found no documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias influenced the opening of the Russia investigation but found serious problems with surveillance applications. A 2023 special-counsel report criticized how the FBI opened that investigation. The federal cases against Trump were withdrawn after the 2024 election. A judge dismissed the 2025 Comey and James indictments because the prosecutor was unlawfully appointed, and Bolton pleaded guilty to one count.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

20162026

Apr 2026 Comey indicted a second time ("86 47" post)

On April 28, 2026, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted former FBI Director James Comey on two counts. The charges are threatening the President and sending a threat across state lines. They are based on a May 15, 2025 Instagram image showing "86 47" (DOJ press release). The AP reported that this was the second time the Trump Justice Department had charged Comey. A judge dismissed the first indictment, which alleged lying to Congress, after finding the prosecutor was illegally appointed. The AP described the new case as "part of the Trump administration Justice Department's relentless effort to prosecute political opponents of the Republican president." Comey said in a video statement, "this won't be the end of it." Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the case as "the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute." On July 27, 2026, Comey's lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the post was protected speech and not a "true threat." Their motion said "the government now singles out Mr. Comey to prosecute one of the President's most prominent critics for publishing another person's statement of political opposition" (CNBC). As of that report, the case was pending.

  • justice.gov statement
    Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation's laws.
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    Well, they're back – this time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago, and this won't be the end of it.
  • youtube.com video

Sources: justice.gov needs a second source · Public Broadcasting Service reliable · Public Broadcasting Service reliable · cnbc.com reliable

Nov 2025 – Dec 2025 Comey and James cases dismissed; grand juries refuse to re-indict James

On Nov. 24, 2025, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. CBS and NPR reported that she ruled interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who secured both indictments, was unlawfully appointed. Currie wrote that "all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment" must be set aside, and she dismissed the indictments without prejudice (CBS). Both Comey and James had argued their prosecutions were retaliatory. In a video statement, Comey said "the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies." Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department would pursue "an immediate appeal," and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Halligan "was in fact legally appointed." After a grand jury in Norfolk declined to re-indict James on Dec. 4, she said, "It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop" (CBS). On Dec. 11, a grand jury in Alexandria also declined to return an indictment (AP via PBS).

  • cbsnews.com article
    I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey's indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside
  • cbsnews.com article
    As I have said from the start, the charges against me are baseless. It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop.
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    The Justice Department asked a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, to return an indictment Thursday after a different grand jury in Norfolk last week refused to do so.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · Public Broadcasting Service reliable · NPR reliable

Oct 2025 Letitia James and John Bolton indictments

On Oct. 9, 2025, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution (AP via PBS). In a statement, James called the indictment "nothing more than a continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system" and said the charges "are baseless" (AP via PBS). On Oct. 16, a federal grand jury indicted former national security adviser John Bolton in federal court in Maryland on eight counts of transmission and 10 counts of retention of national defense information. NBC News described him as "the third critic of President Donald Trump to face criminal charges in recent weeks," after James Comey and James. Bolton said in a statement, "Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts" (NBC News). FBI Director Kash Patel used the same word from the other side: "Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated" (Justice Department). Bolton pleaded not guilty (CBS). A judge dismissed the James indictment on Nov. 24, 2025 (CBS). On June 26, 2026, Bolton pleaded guilty to one of the 18 counts, retention of national defense information; NPR reported that his sentencing hearing was scheduled for Oct. 28.

  • NBC News article
    Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.
  • justice.gov statement
    Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    nothing more than a continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system.

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · NBC News reliable · justice.gov needs a second source · cbsnews.com reliable · NPR reliable · cbsnews.com reliable

Sep 2025 Trump's post to "Pam" and the Comey indictment

On Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social in a message addressed to "Pam," saying "We can't delay any longer." He named Adam Schiff, James Comey and Letitia James. In a follow-up post he named Lindsey Halligan to replace Erik Siebert as U.S. attorney and described her past work "in the winning fight against the Weaponization of our Justice System by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats" (Time). On Sept. 25 a grand jury in Northern Virginia indicted Comey on two counts: making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. It voted against a third count (CBS). That night House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump and "his sycophants" in the Justice Department had "viciously weaponized the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries" (Jeffries press release), and Sen. Chris Murphy wrote on X, "We are IN the crisis" (ABC News). Within the same week, Trump used the word about the Biden-era department and Jeffries used it about Trump's. On Nov. 24, 2025, a judge dismissed the Comey indictment after finding Halligan was unlawfully appointed (CBS; NPR).

  • Time article
    [I]t's killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!
  • democraticleader.house.gov statement
    Donald Trump and his sycophants in the Department of Justice are completely and totally out of control, and have viciously weaponized the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries.
  • ABC News article
    We aren't on a slippery slope to a constitutional crisis. We are IN the crisis.

Sources: Time reliable · ABC News reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · NPR reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · democraticleader.house.gov needs a second source

Feb 2025 Attorney General Bondi's "Weaponization Working Group"

On February 5, 2025, hours after being sworn in, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo titled "Restoring the Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice." It said "I hereby establish the Weaponization Working Group." The memo quoted President Trump's January 20, 2025 executive order, which said the prior administration had engaged in "third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power." It told the group to review Special Counsel Jack Smith's work, "the unprecedented raid on President Trump's home," and "Federal cooperation with the weaponization" by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James. An AP report published by Fortune said the memo "satisfies the longstanding contention of Trump and his allies" that the Biden Justice Department had become "weaponized" against conservatives, and added that "there's been no evidence to support the idea that the prosecutions against Trump were launched for a partisan purpose." The AP also reported that Bondi told senators at her confirmation hearing that the department "had been weaponized for years and years and years, and it's got to stop."

  • justice.gov statement
    I hereby establish the Weaponization Working Group, which will be led by the Office of the Attorney General
  • goodmorningamerica.com article
    Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive Wednesday establishing a "Weaponization Working Group"
  • fortune.com article
    The memo satisfies the longstanding contention of Trump and his allies that the Justice Department under the Biden administration had become "weaponized" against conservatives

Sources: justice.gov needs a second source · goodmorningamerica.com needs a second source · fortune.com reliable

May 2024 Trump's New York conviction

A jury found Donald Trump "guilty on all 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial" on May 30, 2024 (ABC News). That day, Trump said outside the courtroom, "This was a rigged, disgraceful trial" (ABC News). House Speaker Mike Johnson put out a statement the same day saying, "The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration," and called the verdict "a purely political exercise, not a legal one" (Johnson's House press release, May 30, 2024). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell posted on X that "These charges never should have been brought in the first place," and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan called the trial a "travesty of justice" (ABC News). Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said, "Everyone is entitled to due process, and Donald Trump had his" (ABC News). The case was a New York state prosecution in Manhattan criminal court, not a Justice Department case; Johnson's statement framed it as part of the Biden Administration's "weaponization of our justice system."

  • mikejohnson.house.gov statement
    The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents.
  • ABC News article
    This was a rigged, disgraceful trial

Sources: ABC News reliable · mikejohnson.house.gov needs a second source

Jun 2023 – Aug 2023 Weaponization claims around the 2023 Trump indictments

On June 8, 2023, Trump said he had been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith's classified-documents investigation. AP reported that he called the investigation a "witch hunt" and said "I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!" The same day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination, tweeted, "The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society" (CNN). On June 9, before the indictment was unsealed, former Vice President Mike Pence called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to release it so Americans could "judge for themselves whether this is just the latest incident of weaponization and politicization at the Justice Department or it's something different" (CNN). The indictment unsealed that day had 37 counts (CNBC), and Trump pleaded not guilty (CBS). On Aug. 1, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on four counts tied to his efforts to stay in power after the 2020 election. His campaign said in a statement that the indictment was "the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election" (CBS). AP later reported that both of Smith's 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" (Fortune/AP).

  • CNN article
    The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society.
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    He declared in a video, "I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!" and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a "witch hunt."
  • CNN article
    Biden "had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges"
  • cbsnews.com article
    the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · CNN reliable · CNN reliable · cnbc.com reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · fortune.com reliable

May 2023 Durham report

On May 15, 2023, the Justice Department released special counsel John Durham's report on the FBI's 2016 "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation of the Trump campaign. The report said the FBI opened that investigation "based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence." House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said in a statement that the report showed officials "illegally weaponized the federal government against Donald J. Trump." The Hill reported that House Republicans said the report supported their argument that federal agencies had been "weaponized" against political enemies. On the record: Durham's prosecutions produced one guilty plea, from former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, and two acquittals (Michael Sussmann and Igor Danchenko), and the report called for no additional charges. PolitiFact noted that Durham did not conclude the FBI shouldn't have investigated at all. CBS noted that Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 2019 review found no evidence of political bias by the bureau, though it did find 17 "significant inaccuracies and omissions" in the warrant applications to surveil Carter Page.

  • cbsnews.com article
    The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters
  • The Hill article
    WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe! In other words, the American Public was scammed
  • The Hill article
    The long-awaited Durham Report confirmed what the American people already know; that individuals at the highest levels of government attempted to overthrow democracy when they illegally weaponized the federal government against Donald J. Trump

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · PolitiFact reliable · The Hill reliable · The Hill reliable

Jan 2023 – Feb 2023 House creates the "Weaponization" subcommittee; first hearing

On Jan. 10, 2023, House Republicans voted 221–211, along party lines, to create a Judiciary subcommittee to investigate the "weaponization" of the federal government, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Its mandate covered investigating "citizens of the United States, including ongoing criminal investigations" (UPI). NBC reported that Republicans said the panel would look at how the Justice Department, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies had investigated conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, and would likely examine the FBI's August search of Mar-a-Lago. Ahead of the first hearing, a White House memo called it "a political stunt that weaponizes Congress" (CNN). Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said its "primary purpose" was "to interfere with the special counsel's ongoing investigation" (The Hill). Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told CNN that "one basic question is whether weaponization is the target of the committee or if weaponization is the purpose of the committee," and later cited examples in which, he claimed, Trump had tried to influence the Justice Department's decision-making, saying, "If weaponization of the DOJ has any meaning, this it!" (CNN).

  • The Hill article
    We don't want to go after anyone, we just want it to stop.
  • CNN article
    We're focused on the whole weaponization of government, and the idea that the government is not working for the American people

Sources: upi.com needs a second source · The Hill reliable · NBC News reliable · CNN reliable

Aug 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago

FBI agents searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Aug. 8, 2022, looking for presidential records and classified material (FactCheck.org). That same day, Republican leaders described the search as "weaponization": Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called it "another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents" (Fox News, Aug. 8, 2022); Trump called it "the weaponization of the Justice System" (Fox News); House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said the Justice Department "has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization" and that if Republicans won the House, it would investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland and the department (The Hill). Rep. Matt Gaetz posted that the search "was a political performance against Trump" (FactCheck.org). On the record so far: Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on Aug. 9 that Biden "was not briefed" and learned of the search from public reports. On Aug. 11, Garland said: "I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter." FactCheck.org found "nothing to support" a viral claim that Biden directed the search (FactCheck.org, Aug. 11, 2022).

  • Fox News article
    The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves.
  • The Hill article
    has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization
  • factcheck.org article
    It was a political performance against Trump. The antidote has to be NOT ONE MORE damn penny for this administrative state that has been weaponized against our people in a very fascist way

Sources: Fox News needs a second source · The Hill reliable · factcheck.org reliable

Dec 2019 Inspector General Horowitz's report on the FBI's Russia investigation ("Crossfire Hurricane")

NPR and NBC News reported that Trump and his allies had long called the Russia investigation a politically motivated "witch hunt," and NBC added that they had claimed the Obama administration spied on his campaign. The report came out on December 9, 2019. NPR reported that it found the FBI's decision to open the investigation "was in compliance with Department and FBI policies," and that the OIG "did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced" the decision. It also found serious problems with the FBI's surveillance applications targeting former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The same day, Trump said the report documented an "attempted overthrow." U.S. Attorney John Durham said he disagreed with some of its conclusions about how the case was opened. At the December 11 hearing, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R) compared the FBI's conduct to the J. Edgar Hoover era. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the panel's top Democrat, said, "There is no deep state."

  • oig.justice.gov statement
    more than one million documents
  • NBC News article
    far worse than I ever thought possible
  • justice.gov statement
    we do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.
  • NPR article
    we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced

Sources: NBC News reliable · NPR reliable · justice.gov needs a second source · oig.justice.gov needs a second source

Mar 2019 – Apr 2019 Mueller findings and Attorney General Barr's summary

On March 24, 2019, Barr's summary quoted Mueller's finding that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government." It also quoted Mueller saying the report "does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him" (PolitiFact). The same day, Trump called the investigation "an illegal takedown that failed" (Roll Call). On April 10, Barr told senators "I think spying did occur" and said he would review how the Russia investigations began, while adding "I'm not saying it wasn't adequately predicated" (CNBC). After the report came out on April 18, Rep. Devin Nunes said in a statement that "our nation's counter-intelligence capabilities should never again be abused to target an administration's political opponents" (PBS). Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized what they called Barr's "regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report" (PBS).

  • rollcall.com article
    Trump laid into the special counsel's investigation, calling it "an illegal takedown that failed."
  • PolitiFact article
    (T)he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    our nation's counter-intelligence capabilities should never again be abused to target an administration's political opponents
  • youtube.com video
    was an illegal takedown that failed

Sources: PolitiFact reliable · rollcall.com reliable · cnbc.com reliable · Public Broadcasting Service reliable

Feb 2018 The Nunes memo

On February 2, 2018, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memo with the subject line "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the FBI." It claims the FBI and DOJ relied on an opposition-research dossier, paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign, to get surveillance warrants on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The FBI had said it had "grave concerns" about the memo's accuracy and that it left out key information. That day, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said "the Justice Department and FBI have been weaponized through the actions of a political party." Trump tweeted that FBI and DOJ leaders had "politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans." Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the committee, said the memo was "designed to impugn the credibility of the FBI, to undermine the investigation" (CBS). On Feb. 4, Sen. Dick Durbin warned that using the memo to fire Rosenstein or Mueller "could precipitate a constitutional crisis" (CNN). The Justice Department inspector general's review of the Page applications, posted December 9, 2019 (DOJ OIG), found 17 "inaccuracies and omissions" in the first Page warrant application and its three renewals (CBS).

  • cbsnews.com article
    the Justice Department and FBI have been weaponized through the actions of a political party
  • CNN article
    This memo totally vindicates 'Trump' in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on.
  • CNN article
    this could precipitate a constitutional crisis

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · CNN reliable · wncw.org needs a second source · cbsnews.com reliable · oig.justice.gov needs a second source · CNN reliable

May 2017 – Jun 2017 Special counsel appointed; Trump calls the inquiry a "witch hunt"

On May 17, 2017, the Justice Department announced that Rosenstein, acting as attorney general, had appointed Mueller as special counsel. Mueller was to oversee the FBI's investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 election "and related matters." The next day, President Trump posted that it was "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" After the Post's June 14 report, Trump posted on June 15 that the probe was the "single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people!" On June 16 he posted: "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt."

  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!
  • ABC News article
    I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt
  • NPR article
    some news outlets have taken that last tweet as confirmation from the president himself that, in fact, he is under investigation.

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · ABC News reliable · NPR reliable · justice.gov needs a second source

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