Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) is now beginning to levy criminal charges against his political enemies. And it's starting with former FBI director James Comey.
We have to speak out now before this spirals even further out of control, impacting other people who have criticized Trump. Sign now to demand the Department of Justice drop its charges against Comey and stop retaliating against Trump's perceived foes!Trump has had it out for Comey for years. Back in 2017, after Trump had entered the Oval Office for the first time, Comey apparently
refused to pledge loyalty to Trump. On top of that, he had recently been investigating
Russia's influence to help Trump in the 2016 election. Trump was furious about both situations, and fired Comey in spring 2017. That firing led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
That was almost 10 years ago, but
Trump never forgot. Since then, he's been clamoring for Comey's arrest. And now, his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, is prosecuting Comey. Not only was Comey indicted, but his daughter was recently fired from her position as a federal prosecutor in New York.
Experts say that the charges are flimsy, and they expect Comey to win in court against the DOJ. But that's not really the point. The point is that - after years of saying he would - Trump is
actually using the U.S. government in order to target his perceived adversaries. This is in direct violation of Americans'
constitutional rights to freedom of expression, including criticizing the government and public officials.
Even worse, he's threatened that this is just the beginning. The very next day after the DOJ had indicted Comey, Trump said he wanted - and expected - even more indictments. He said: "It's not a list, but I think there'll be others."
As Senator Mark Warner
said, this is an example of Trump's efforts "to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics." Norm Eisen, Executive Chair of the nonprofit Democracy Defenders Fund, put it plainly: "
The safety of every American and our national security itself [is] in danger. This matters far beyond James Comey. It's about every citizen's right to live free from persecution by their own leaders. Criticizing our leaders is a fundamental right, regardless of how much our leaders don't like it."
We absolutely must use this moment to speak out now, in order to even protect our ability to speak out at all. Sign the petition to put pressure on Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, and demand that they drop the charges and stop prosecuting political dissidents! 