Trump signs order on government 'weaponization'
President Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at correcting “past misconduct” he said qualified as weaponization of the federal government.
The executive order largely points the finger at former President Biden, and while it does not directly call out the prosecution into Trump, it's heavily geared toward the Justice Department.
“The prior administration and allies throughout the country engaged in an unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process,” the executive order states, saying that under Biden, the Justice Department “ruthlessly prosecuted more than 1,500 individuals associated with January 6.”
It also blames Biden for having “engage[d] in a systematic campaign against its perceived political opponents.”
The order said the government should take “appropriate action to correct past misconduct” — an idea largely left undefined as it tasked the Justice Department with reviewing the actions of any agency with criminal or civil enforcement power that took action “contrary” to the order.
It similarly directs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to “identify any instances where the Intelligence Community’s conduct appears to have been contrary to the purposes and policies of this order.”
The order comes as Trump has issued a number of threats against his political opponents, sparking fear Trump Department of Justice officials could abuse the power of the office to initiate investigations or prosecutions into his adversaries.
During her confirmation hearing, Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi repeatedly cited the two federal prosecutions of the president as an example of government weaponization.