President Donald Trump, speaking at the Justice Department, lashed out harshly at Biden-era officials, in a speech that was meant to address the fight against fentanyl. With the Justice Department logo behind him, Trump launched into a ranting indictment of the judges, FBI agents, and district attorneys who investigated him, as well as the newspapers and journalists who criticized his actions. He accused them of acting in a partisan and corrupt manner and called his opponents “scum,” labeled judges “corrupt,” and prosecutors who investigated him “deranged.”
In the 45 minutes of his furious and rambling indictment, in which he disregarded the tradition observed by his predecessors of not politicizing the federal law enforcement agency, Trump accused the previous administration of doing “everything in their power to prevent” him from becoming president. He demanded that his “legal tormentors” – the investigators who looked into his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and the top secret documents hidden in Mar a Lago – be sent to prison. “They are bad people, really bad people. They should go to jail,” he added, vowing to remake the department and take revenge on his enemies.
“As we begin a proud new chapter in the chronicles of American justice, we are turning the page from four long years of corruption, militarization, and capitulation to violent criminals. We are restoring fair, equitable, and impartial justice under the rule of law,” said the president who, using a biblical metaphor, accused Joe Biden’s administration of using the law to punish the “innocent” and ”reward the wicked.”
Standing next to 180 pounds of fake fentanyl, placed under a box with the fine print “Goddess Evidence,” Trump then proclaimed himself “the chief law enforcement officer of our country,” and demanded “full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have been committed.” He cited among them investigations that he said “spied on my campaign, launched an endless series of false operations and disinformation campaigns.” He also accused the investigators of “violating the law on a colossal scale.” “They hounded my family, staff, and supporters, raided my Mar-a-Lago residence, and did everything they could to prevent me from becoming president of the United States.”
“In recent years, unfortunately, a corrupt group of fanatics and radicals nestled in American institutions have destroyed the trust and goodwill built up over generations. They have instrumentalized the vast powers of our intelligence and security agencies to try to thwart the will of the American people.” He added that the media that treat him critically are “illegal” and “corrupt.” CNN, MSNBC, and unidentified newspapers “literally write 97.6 percent bad about me” and “this has to stop. It has to be illegal.” Trump described them as the “political arm of the Democratic Party. And in my opinion they are really corrupt and illegal. What they’re doing is illegal, they’re influencing judges and they’re really changing the law, and it can’t be legal. I don’t think it’s legal. And they do it in total coordination with each other.” This new attack on the media is unprecedented for a president in a country where freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution. Trump routinely calls journalists he dislikes “enemies of the people” and calls news stories that highlight his falsehoods “fake news.” Since he began his second term in January, the president has moved quickly to pressure mainstream media outlets such as the Associated Press and Reuters, but also CNN and MSNBC while increasing White House access to QAnon blogs and right-wing media outlets.
The president also promised to expel what he called “rebel actors and corrupt forces” from the government. “We will dismantle and, indeed, expose in a very clear way,” he said, ”their heinous crimes and serious irregularities to levels never seen before. It will be legendary, even for those who manage to uncover the truth and bring justice.”
The president boasted of revoking the security clearances of some former officials who had investigated him, as well as pardoning the rioters convicted of roughing up police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, calling them “political prisoners treated shamefully. We removed senior FBI officials who had diverted resources to send special teams against grandmothers and hostages on Jan. 6.”
At the end of his speech, “YMCA” by the Village People was played through the speakers in the briefing room – a longtime favorite closer from the president’s campaign trail. Trump left the stage, hinting at a dance step, as he used to do when taking leave of supporters, only this time the audience consisted of government, intelligence, and Justice Department representatives, who applauded his speech as if they had been at a MAGA rally.
