In many cases #Trump is relying on, or asserting, unilateral power rather than turning to the courts or federal agencies to carry out his demands. Many of his targets are those who prosecuted or challenged him politically, or are institutions & groups he sees as ideological impediments, like elite #universities.

In the process, #Trump has blurred the personal & the political, making it difficult in some instances, like his targeting of #academic & #cultural institutions, to distinguish between his grievances & policy goals. [hint it’s all always about him, he couldn’t care less about policy]

#RevengePolitics #AbuseOfPower #law #tyranny #WeaponizationOfGovernment #USpol

List: Who Trump Has Targeted for #Retribution
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/07/us/trump-revenge-list.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=66828DAC-72F7-4970-9008-14200628818D

#GaryShapley was a longtime #IRS agent when he told Congress in 2023 that prosecutors slow-walked an inquiry into then-President Joe #Biden’s son for #tax offenses.…

But Shapley’s testimony, along w/that of Joseph Ziegler, has made him a celebrated figure on the #FarRight & endeared him to advisers to #Trump, who in his first term openly mused about using #tax investigations to persecute his perceived #political #enemies.

That ofcl, #GaryShapley, was recently appointed to dpty chief of the #IRS’s #criminal division & to an “unprecedented” senior advisory role at the #Treasury Dept, he wrote to colleagues in a recent email…— giving #political appointees a direct line to #tax investigations for the first time since #Nixon.

…#Trump has made no secret of his plans to seek retribution against political foes once he returns to the WH, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month that members of the #House #Jan6 panel “should go to jail.”

…Trump has also indicated he will consider #pardons for those who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 “within the first nine minutes” of his term.

“#LizCheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee,” #Trump wrote. “Which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, & these violations should be investigated by the FBI.’”

#Trump reignited his [#threats against]…fmr Rep #LizCheney, saying she “could be in a lot of trouble” following a #House subcmte report accusing her of wrongdoing while serving on the panel that investigated the #Jan6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Trump’s post cites [the] report released Tues…by #GOP Rep #BarryLoudermilk that… calls for her to be investigated….

#law #WeaponizationOfGovernment #RevengePolitics #MafiaState #MAGA #Republicans #democracy #USpol
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/18/congress/trump-jabs-at-cheney-00195030

A 128-pg report [#propaganda] from the #House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight said #LizCheney should be investigated for witness tampering. It accuses her of colluding w/ #CassidyHutchinson, the fmr White House aide who became the cmte’s star witness as it examined #Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

In a joint stmnt, Stamos & DiResta said their work involved much more than #elections, & that they had been unfairly maligned.

“The politically motivated attacks against our #research on elections & #vaccines have no merit, & the attempts by #partisan #House cmte chairs to suppress #FirstAmendment protected research are a quintessential example of the #WeaponizationOfGovernment.”


…#Lieu asked #Wray about #RogerStone, #ElliottBroidy, #MichaelCohen, #PaulManafort, #RickGates, & #GeorgePapadopoulos, all of whom were found #guilty of various #crimes in federal court.

Lieu pointed out that all of the advisers were prosecuted by Trump appointees: #BillBarr, #MatthewWhitaker, & #JeffSessions. Wray, who was already leading the #FBI at the time, is also a #TrumpAppointee.