There is a "disturbing note of irony" present in the Trump DOJ's indictment of ex-Trump official John Bolton, according to an ex-prosecutor.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote a Substack post about the indictment of Bolton, in which she argues that Bolton has a more difficult defense on his hands than other Trump enemies who have been targeted by the Justice Department.
"Here, unless Bolton has some evidence that these prosecutors did not proceed professionally, he may not have a winnable legal argument," Vance wrote.
However, she goes on to highlight the irony of Bolton being charged with crimes when Pete Hegseth never faced accountability for similar transgressions.
"Nonetheless, there is a disturbing note of irony here," she wrote. "Bolton is charged with possessing information relating to the national defense that he knew could be used to injure our country if transmitted to a foreign country. It’s impossible to ignore the specter of Pete Hegseth’s Signal chat, with its release of information while pilots were still in the air, hanging over all of this."
She further asks, "Why charge Bolton and not Hegseth, the sitting Secretary of Defense? It looks like we have two layers of justice, one for friends of Donald Trump and another for his enemies."
Whatever the outcome of this case, Vance argues, Trump is doing long-term damage to the justice system itself.
"But there is no way around the fact that Donald Trump’s interference in federal prosecutions has undercut the integrity of the criminal justice system. The notion that prosecutors would trump up charges to suit the president used to be unthinkable. Trump has put it in play," she wrote. "Even when a meritorious case is brought, questions will linger. That’s why presidents stay out of prosecutions. That’s why prosecutors are schooled to avoid conversations with politicians, even ones they know, if they could create the appearance of impropriety. Politics has no place anywhere near prosecutions. The damage Trump is doing will take years to repair."
