A Democratic senator Thursday had a chilling response to news that the New York Attorney General, who brought the charges against President Donald Trump, has been indicted on a mortgage fraud case, saying the latest attack on a Trump enemy is sending "a shiver down the spine."
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was in an interview with CNN Anchor Kasie Hunt when news broke that Letitia James, who Trump has named as a foe and urged his Department of Justice to pursue legal retribution against, was indicted in a mortgage fraud case.
"I'm just hearing it for the first time, but it just is part of a bigger trend of the president of the United States using the Department of Justice, using the legal system to go after political adversaries, using the arms of our democracy to go after political adversaries, whether it's Comey or now, James, Lisa Cook on the fed, Adam Schiff on the Senate — and if that doesn't send a shiver down the spine of anybody — whether you're a Democrat or Republican, because turn around, I mean, you know, another administration could be in and suddenly the arms of the government are being wielded against the Republican Party," Slotkin said.
Slotkin, who serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called the indictment a "broken way to do politics" and "corrupt."
"And I think that, you know, anyone who cares about the Constitution and cares about our institutions surviving should care that the president of the United States is using Pam Bondi to do his bidding against adversaries," she added.
The lawmaker has worked for both Republicans and Democrats, under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and said it was something she hasn't seen before.
"You shouldn't be able to sit in the White House and use the courts to get back at your enemies," Slotkin said.
Last month, U.S. Attorney Erik Seibert, who was appointed by Trump, resigned from the Eastern District of Virginia after he declined to prosecute Trump's political adversary, James. He was replaced by Lindsay Halligan, a Trump loyalist, and handpicked to bring the case against James Comey. She has now brought the case against James and a grand jury voted to indict her.
"But the idea that you would tell your attorney general, I want to go after these people, just make a case against people I don't like because they annoyed me. 'They piss me off.' 'They're from New York, so I pay a lot of attention to them.' You know, that to me is a dangerous, dangerous precedent to set," Slotkin said. "And again, even if you are not a Democrat and you know you're a big supporter of President Trump, which a lot of people in my state are, I think people are smarter and they understand that if this is the new trend, what's going to happen when a Democrat is in power? What's going to happen against the people I care about? So it's a really, really dangerous, slippery slope."
