I am always very careful to distinguish between mountains and molehills in the political news cycle, especially when it comes to Donald Trump. Too much coverage of the president paints everything he does as the worst thing ever. But let me be clear here: What Trump has done at the Department of Justice in recent days—firing a U.S. Attorney after they failed to bring charges against two of his political enemies, and publicly encouraging Attorney General Pam Bondi to make cases against others—is a mountain. A big one. Why? Because it’s now entirely clear that Trump sees the DoJ as his personal plaything—to be used to target those who have crossed him and to excuse those who are on his side. (Tom Homan’s bag of cash, anyone?!) And he is not only willing to expressly target his political enemies but he also appears unwilling to take “no” for an answer when it comes to whether they have actually done anything wrong. It all directly threatens the rule of law—and the idea that the Department of Justice will go wherever the evidence takes it. And that is a mountain.
Want more ball and strike calling—no matter what uniform the batter at the plate is wearing? Check out Chris Cillizza’s Substack and YouTube channel.
