Trump pressures Bondi to investigate adversaries

Kathryn Palmer

USA TODAY

President Donald Trump appeared to publicly pressure his attorney general to take legal action against several of his political foes in a series of social media posts on Sept. 20.

'We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social that appeared to be addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi. 'JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!'

The president named former FBI Director James Comey, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, and Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, in the post. He said he reviewed dozens of statements about the current and former officials, and 'nothing is being done' about them.

Comey, Schiff and James have all been targets of Trump’s ire for years, dating back to his first term in office.

Comey led the investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia – which found no collusion. Trump fired Comey in May 2017. Schiff, one of Trump’s most vocal critics, led the first impeachment effort against the president over his communication with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

James is suing the Trump administration over cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services and executive actions on elections that she says are unconstitutional. She secured a half-billion dollar civil fraud judgment against Trump last year, though the penalty was later thrown out by an appeals court.

James and Schiff are subjects of Justice Department mortgage fraud investigations. Both have denied wrongdoing and called the inquiries personally or politically motivated.

Trump on Sept. 20 also announced that he is nominating senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to take over as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia.

She will replace Erik Siebert, the attorney who was overseeing the criminal mortgage fraud investigation into James before he left his post on Sept. 19. His decision came after Trump called for him to be removed from the job, according to the New York Times, the Washington Post and other outlets.

'He didn’t quit, I fired him!' Trump said of Siebert on Truth Social, adding that he pulled Siebert’s name over his 'UNUSUALLY STRONG support' from the state’s Democratic senators.

Siebert had informed the DOJ that he had insufficient evidence to pursue charges against James, the outlets reported, and he also raised concerns about a separate case against Comey.

Siebert’s office had also been involved in a criminal investigation of Comey related to the agency’s Russian election interference probes.

Trump later on Sept. 21 addressed his attorney general and repeated his praise of Halligan, saying she will provide 'desperately needed' justice for all.

'Pam Bondi is doing a GREAT job as Attorney General of the United States,' Trump said. 'She is very careful, very smart, loves our Country, but needs a tough prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, like my recommendation, Lindsey Halligan, to get things moving.'

Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY.