(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Now Trump wants to fire attorneys who won't invent false charges [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-09-19
America’s slide into autocracy is quickening. ABC News reported Thursday night that President Donald Trump is set to fire U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert because he won’t prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James. It’s an utterly corrupt and dangerous move that shows Trump is deadly serious about wielding his power to punish his perceived enemies.
Trump has vowed to get retribution against James, who successfully prosecuted a case in which Trump was found liable of civil fraud for inflating his net worth to get more favorable loan terms. To get his revenge, Trump had been pushing Siebert to charge James with mortgage fraud.
New York Attorney General Letitia James
But after a five-month investigation—in which Trump cronies menacingly posed in front of James’ properties to suggest they were going to get her criminally charged—Siebert found there was actually no evidence to charge James with a crime. That clearly enraged Trump, who has reportedly ordered Siebert fired.
If Republicans in Congress actually had a spine, this would be an impeachable offense, with Trump overtly weaponizing the federal government to punish his perceived enemies. But GOP lawmakers excuse Trump's worst behavior, both because many are as corrupt as he is, or they are afraid of being on the receiving end of Dear Leader's rage.
This is not the first person he’s fired for corrupt reasons.
In July, he fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey because her father is James Comey, the former FBI director who has since turned on Trump. She has also prosecuted high-profile cases like Ghislaine Maxwell, the associate of Trump’s buddy, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has also stripped his perceived enemies of both their security clearances and secret service protection. And his Department of Justice carried out a raid against John Bolton, his former national security adviser who has since become a major Trump critic.
Those items only touch the surface of Trump’s autocratic moves.
This week, Trump cheered ABC's capitulation to his administration's warnings, after the network caved to threats from Trump's Federal Communications Commission chair and indefinitely suspended late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show.
Related | Trump is accusing foes with multiple mortgages of fraud. Records show 3 Cabinet members have them.
Trump then raised the stakes even higher to say that any media outlets that criticize him should have their broadcast licenses revoked—a comment that should be taken very seriously given that the FCC has already successfully won programming changes by pressuring media companies.
“I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr,” Trump said, referring to the FCC chairman. “I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy, so we’ll have to see.”
Trump has also vowed to go after progressive organizations, wrongly blaming them for the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
If all of that wasn’t terrifying enough, Trump has also ordered extrajudicial killings on alleged drug smuggling boats, disappeared immigrants to brutal foreign gulags against court orders, punished law firms who defend his critics or challenge his unconstitutional actions, and pardoned violent insurrectionists who tried to help him overthrow the government on Jan. 6, 2021.
We are in extremely dark times.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/19/2344391/-Now-Trump-wants-to-fire-attorneys-who-won-t-invent-false-charges?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
