In the three years since Donald Trump concocted his Big Lie and during which he has relentlessly attacked the Department of Justice, the number of threats against its staff have skyrocketed.
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It’s pretty obvious why Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters are no fans of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The FBI has raided the former president’s home in search of classified documents he hoarded there, DOJ has prosecuted January 6 insurrectionists, and, most importantly, it has tried to hold Trump, the most lawless US president in history, to account for his actions.
By claiming that the above amounts to a witch hunt, the weaponization of the department, and election interference, Trump has mobilized his supporters to treat DOJ as an enemy.
And, apparently, they have listened.
On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the department’s workforce to discuss a problem that most DOJ employees have either experienced personally or are at least aware of: the escalation of attacks on the Justice Department as a whole and many of its staff individually.
“These attacks have come in the form of conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods, efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out, and threats of actual violence,” Garland said, noting that these attacks go “far beyond public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work.”
None of this should come as a shock to anybody who has followed Trump and his long history of using violent rhetoric to get his supporters riled up.
It is also not surprising that DOJ (along with windmills and sharks) is one of his favorite targets. After all, with criminal indictments in four cases, the former president has plenty of skin in the game. Undermining the justice system, just as he undermined democracy following his loss in the 2020 election, is one way for him to avoid any consequences for his actions.
And, like he did when sparking that insurrection, Trump is playing with fire.
“It is dangerous to target and intimidate individual employees of this Department solely for doing their jobs,” Garland said. “And it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law.”
The attorney general also stressed that DOJ and its employees “will not be intimidated by these attacks.”
At the same time, Garland also rejected any claims that the department is not impartial.
“There is not one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, or different rules depending on one’s race or ethnicity,” he said.
Although Trump is the department’s main antagonist, Garland pointedly did not mention the former president by name. However, it does not take a genius to figure out where this escalation of attacks comes from.
Granted, he has also drawn the ire of Democrats who believe that Garland has not pursued the former president and his goons aggressively enough. However, there have been no reports that this has resulted in attacks on DOJ or its employees.
Garland praised his staff for its integrity and skill as it completes noble and difficult work.
“The work you do every day makes a difference,” he said. “And the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not bend to politics. And that they will not break under pressure.”
It is quite possible that DOJ will meet its toughest test yet if Trump loses another election and faces jail. Let’s hope that, if that day comes, Garland will be proven right.
