If Donald Trump’s public comments are any indication, the president has been preoccupied with George Soros lately, repeatedly referencing the Hungarian American philanthropist in multiple Fox News appearances.
The Republican also recently targeted Soros online, posting an item to his social media platform that said the wealthy progressive donor should face racketeering charges after supporting “violent protests.”
The baseless accusations were ridiculous — there’s no evidence whatsoever to suggest the Soros family or the Open Society Foundations have financed “violent protests” — but the remarks were also largely overlooked as pointless presidential palaver. As I noted in a post, Trump’s weird rants against Soros are easy to shrug off unless the Justice Department starts acting on them.
So it’s significant that The New York Times reported a senior Justice Department official has “instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorneys’ offices to draft plans to investigate” a Soros-backed group. From the article:
The official’s directive, a copy of which was viewed by The New York Times, goes as far as to list possible charges prosecutors could file, ranging from arson to material support of terrorism. The memo suggests department leaders are following orders from the president that specific people or groups be subject to criminal investigation — a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the Justice Department from political interference. The move is the latest instance of the Justice Department moving against Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies.
According to the Times’ reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC, it was earlier this week when Aakash Singh, a lawyer in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, issued a directive to U.S. attorney’s offices in California, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Maryland, among others.
Given the circumstances, it would ordinarily be sensible to evaluate the allegations on their merits, but in this instance, there’s no point in accepting the premise: If the reporting is correct, Trump’s Justice Department didn’t issue the directive to prosecutors because there’s credible evidence against Soros or the foundation he’s financed; rather, Trump’s Justice Department issued the directive because the president sees Soros as a political enemy.
When Main Justice directs at least seven U.S. attorney’s offices to launch what amounts to a fishing expedition, that’s not law enforcement, it’s political corruption.
This is obviously an outrageous abuse, but it’s also a familiar one. Indeed, it dovetails to an unsettling degree with Trump and his team’s revenge campaign against former FBI Director James Comey. And New York Attorney General Letitia James. And Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California. And former CIA Director John Brennan. And even former President Joe Biden.
The unsubtle and retaliatory weaponization of federal law enforcement is corrupt, brazen and dangerous in equal measure, and the problem is only getting worse.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
