President Donald Trump and his administration on Monday said they would go after the president's political opponents, a decision an expert says is "gonna come back to bite them."
"What is missing here? The facts of any federal crime," former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman told CNN.
Litman argued that Trump is acting in retaliation against anyone who targeted him in the past, especially during his first term in office.
"Speaking as a a prosecutor. There is nothing worse. I mean, rock bottom, than prosecuting someone without evidence, for starters, and doing it at the political pleasure of the president in order to have reprisal against political enemies," Litman said.
He called Trump's attempted maneuvers "the complete demolition of the DOJ mission" and "despotism, pure and simple."
"The indictment of someone without an investigation without a predicate of facts and law is an absolute scandal," Litman added, calling the accusations against Leticia New York Attorney General Letitia James "corrupt."
Over the weekend, Trump unleashed a critical take on Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom he referred to as "Pam" in an open letter on his own social media site, Truth Social. He demanded Bondi indict James, who has not been found guilty of any crimes.
"Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, 'same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.' Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many layers, and legal pundits, say so," Trump wrote. "[White House lawyer] Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you a lot."
On Friday, Erik S. Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned and told senior Justice Department officials that there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against James, and he also pointed to concerns over a potential case involving former FBI Director James Comey, the New York Times reports.