'My boss made me do it': DOJ vets fear following Trump's orders will land them in court

NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian reported Monday that those left in the Justice Department have been worried about President Donald Trump's revenge campaign since the beginning. Now there's real panic as he calls on them to be more aggressive in investigating his political opponents.

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who he misspelled as "Leticia."

"They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done," Trump said in the Saturday post without citing the laws he thinks were broken.

"Justice must be served now," Trump later wrote in all-caps.

Dilanian said that those at the DOJ have been worried about this since the beginning, and it's far worse than what was seen in the first Trump administration.

"We've never been here before," said Dilanian. "Even in the Trump administration."

"So, the people [who] have done business the same way for 30 years, some of them have, although many of them are leaving, are traumatized. They're not just concerned, they're absolutely traumatized by what's been happening at the Justice Department, not only on criminal cases but on all sorts of cases — antitrust cases, corporate monitor cases, the lack of enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," he continued.

Former New York assistant district attorney Catherine Christian said that the DOJ staff isn't "traumatized" by a breach of tradition, "rather, it's so highly unethical for a prosecutor to choose people to prosecute for no reason other than, my boss hates them."

She said that typically, prosecutors are picking crimes and cases that can be prosecuted beyond a reasonable doubt using facts and evidence.

"But to just go after people just because they are perceived to be an enemy of the person who appointed you is just not what you do as an ethical prosecutor," she said.

Some, she said, have already resigned. Others know they'll likely be fired if they say "no" to Trump's demands.

But for a senior person at the DOJ to blame Trump in court, however, won't work.

"It was one thing to say, 'I was young, I didn't know what I was doing.' But saying, 'My boss made me do it,' doesn't play," she closed.