'We could all be next': Trump critic fears DOJ will expand 'abusive' prosecutions

George Conway had a front-row seat to two developments related to President Donald Trump's apparent retribution tour against his enemies, and the outspoken critic fears his abuse of power could eventually ensnare anyone who speaks out.

FBI agents raided the home of former national security adviser John Bolton, who lives in the same Bethesda, Maryland, neighborhood as Conway, and the conservative attorney told "CNN News Central" that he was also stuck on the George Washington Bridge when two of then-Gov. Chris Christie's allies ordered lanes shut down in a retribution scheme of their own that Trump wants authorities to reexamine.

"I witnessed that search, and then I was also stuck on the bridge one of the days that they closed it down," Conway said. "It's just absurd, I mean, it is absolutely silly, that case, you know, the Bridgegate case was never, never criminal. Everybody knew it wasn't criminal. The Supreme Court found it wasn't criminal, but Donald Trump raises this now long after, I'm sure, the statute of limitations has run, because that's what Donald Trump is about. He's all about vengeance. He's not about the public, he's not about doing the right thing by America. He's about, 'Oh, can I win a Nobel Peace Prize, oh, can I defeat my enemies?'"

"He's obsessed with defeating his enemies, defeating, criticizing and ultimately now, because he has the power to do it, prosecuting people who disagree with him, and this is not America," Conway added. "This is not healthy, this is – and I hate you know, people don't want to reach this conclusion – this is authoritarianism. We have never seen anything like this in America."

Conway recounted conversations he'd had this year with Europeans who recognized historical parallels between Trump and fascist leaders from the past, and he said Americans should pay attention.

"It may seem alarmist to Americans who enjoy their, you know, enjoy our lives here, a beautiful country with with so many things to do and so many ways to entertain ourselves, and it's time for Americans to wake up," he said. "This is serious. Donald Trump, people may laugh at him because he is he appears to be such a clown, but he's profoundly dangerous because he has the power of prosecution, and every time he says something like this, Americans should take note."

Trump himself denies any involvement in the decision to investigate Bolton on possible criminal charges, but Bolton said Vice President JD Vance's use off first-person plural to make the same claims was revealing about the political motivations behind the move.

"We we we we we," Conway said, repeating the word for emphasis. "'We' matters because this means that they view what they're doing at the Department of Justice, in terms of who they prosecute, who they select to prosecute, as something that is White House policy. They are part and parcel of prosecutions. This is not the way America has conducted prosecutions, really ever has conducted. The cause of justice has to be independent of politics, and it's not here. It's not, and we're seeing that left and right."

Conway cited the case of former senior cybersecurity official Chris Krebs, who disputed Trump's lies about his 2020 election loss and has fallen under federal investigation after his return to office, as another example of the president's abuse of power.

"This is absolutely abusive and appalling, and for those people out there who support the president and say, 'Well, I just don't like those people either,' and they went to get the president," Conway said. "Well, you know, the president actually launched a coup and stole classified documents, so let's leave that aside for those people. It's like, you could be next? We could all be next. This is about not about any individual, it's about our rights as Americans, and it is about our right to have a justice system that is without that, we're choices about prosecuting are made without fear or favor."

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