J.D. Vance subjected to astonishingly thorough fact check on Trump threats to prosecute

J.D. Vance insisted that Donald Trump “didn’t go after his political opponents” during his presidency, and CNN fact checker Daniel Dale offered copious proof to the contrary.

The Ohio senator was asked by ABC News host Martha Raddatz over the weekend whether the ex-president would target his political enemies for prosecution after Vance asserted the attorney general would be the second-most important official in a potential second Trump administration.

Dale listed at least 18 individuals who had been singled out for retribution during Trump's first term.

"There is a long list of political opponents whom Trump publicly called for the Justice Department and others to investigate or prosecute," Dale wrote. "

"The list includes not only 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton and 2020 election opponent Joe Biden," Dale added, "but also Biden’s son Hunter Biden, Democratic former Secretary of State John Kerry, Trump’s former national security advisor turned critic John Bolton, Democratic former President Barack Obama, unspecified Obama administration officials, the anonymous author of a New York Times op-ed by a Trump administration official critical of Trump, MSNBC host and Trump critic Joe Scarborough, former FBI director turned Trump critic James Comey, other former FBI officials, former British spy Christopher Steele (the author of a controversial dossier of allegations against Trump), and various congressional Democrats – including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota,Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia."

A Vance spokesperson accused the media of a "double standard" because Trump was indicted four times after leaving office, including two cases brought by Biden's Department of Justice, but Dale pointed out that Trump had publicly called for some of his enemies to be prosecuted while also reportedly pressuring officials behind the scenes.

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“He was always telling me that we need to use the FBI and IRS to go after people – it was constant and obsessive and is just what he’s claiming is being done to him now," said John Kelly, whom Trump appointed as Secretary of Homeland Security and then White House chief of staff.

There's no evidence that Biden or Harris were involved in the Trump investigations, as Vance's spokesperson claimed, and the decision to bring criminal charges against the former president came from special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by attorney general Merrick Garland, while Trump pressured attorneys general Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr to go after Obama and Biden.

“Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes, the greatest political crime in the history of our country, then we’re going to get little satisfaction unless I win and we’ll just have to go – because I won’t forget it," Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in October 2020. "But these people should be indicted. This was the greatest political crime in the history of our country. And that includes Obama and it includes Biden."