Above the Law
The cost of a weaponized DOJ
Over the weekend, Acting Attorney General Todd “Whiteout” Blanche appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo proclaiming – without, as usual on this topic, any evidence – that there is “a ton of evidence” of fraud in the 2020 election and confirmed that active DOJ investigations into the matter are ongoing in Arizona and Georgia.
Trump’s personal attorney is running hard to make his temp job as the nation’s top law enforcement official permanent. He knows well that chief among the job qualifications will be his willingness to accuse – and perhaps even prosecute – Democrats who win House and Senate seats in the midterms for allegedly stealing their elections. This has been the standard Trump playbook since the near-coup of 2020, but the spectacle of a once-respected federal prosecutor debasing himself to carry it out is particularly revolting.
If he gets the job, Blanche (about whom the Freakshow has more here) will take over the next phase of a massive lawfare and political influence operation at the highest levels of American law enforcement. Pam Bondi had previously been overseeing that project, though apparently not with enough brazen savvy for The Big Man. Blanche’s announcement today of a $1.776 billion slush fund to pay out to J6 criminals and other Trump cronies who got on the wrong side of the law is a big step toward proving he’s not Pam.
The nonprofit watchdog group Not Above the Law has assembled a damning amount of evidence showing just how much the Trump administration has not only weaponized, but utterly gutted the Department of Justice in the 18 months since the 2025 inauguration.
More than 11,000 responsible, constitutionally-inclined attorneys and employees, unwilling to politicize the law by going after progressive organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center or prosecuting Trump’s enemies – like currently, James Comey – have left the agency in droves. Efforts to replace them are falling far short. The administration has been laying the groundwork for a fully lawless, weaponized and politicized federal law enforcement apparatus. Among the most alarming developments:
Ignoring crimes: Trump’s DOJ dropped more than 23,000 criminal investigations and cases in the first six months of his second term. In February 2025 alone, the DOJ declined nearly 11,000 matters – the highest monthly total in DOJ records dating back to 2004.
Putting criminals back on the streets: Trump has pardoned thousands of insurrectionists, health care fraudsters, and anti-choice extremists while the DOJ drops related cases. Among the J6 pardonees were violent criminals from the fascist Proud Boys and nine members of the white nationalist Oath Keepers. And a growing number of them have since been rearrested, many for sexual or violent crimes.
Driving out qualified lawyers: The DOJ is down at least 3,300 attorneys and 11,200 employees overall, leaving entire divisions and regional prosecutors’ offices hollowed out and unable to meet caseload demands.
Releasing fraudsters and losing taxpayer money: Trump has pardoned 80 white-collar criminals who stole more than $2 billion from taxpayers. Many of them operated in the health care industry, meaning they were defrauding programs intended to care for sick and vulnerable people. Meanwhile, the DOJ has closed more than 100 health care fraud investigations.
Letting polluters pollute: The Trump DOJ has declined environmental crime cases at three times the rate seen during Biden’s first six months – and at 1.5 times the rate of Trump’s own first term.
Letting extremists harass women: Trump pardoned two dozen people convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which protects patients seeking reproductive health services from threats, force, and physical obstruction. The DOJ has since sharply pulled back on enforcing the provisions of the Act.
Turned the Civil Rights Division into a sick joke: Instead of protecting Americans’ civil rights, Trump’s fanatically MAGA Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has gutted the department. About three-fourths of the department’s attorneys have left over the last year.
Leaving America vulnerable to foreign adversaries: The DOJ’s National Security Division has lost more than a third of its staff, making it harder to handle caseloads involving espionage, cybersecurity threats and foreign interference.
This is the DOJ that Todd Blanche will inherit. And if his Fox News appearance over the weekend is any indication, it is a department he would further weaponize and dedicate to cheating the hell out of American voters this fall.
Eyes open.
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In time it will be known to all that Donald Trump is a Russian asset and was purposely trying to destroy America.
Why, exactly, does the president have the power to pardon people who have been found guilty under our rules of due process? Has it ever been beneficial to our country?