Weaponizing the Justice Department

Weaponizing the Justice Department means deploying its prosecutorial and investigative resources for political ends — to target opponents of the administration, to shield allies, or to suppress legitimate inquiry. Concrete forms include directed investigations of political opponents on thin grounds, the killing of investigations of allies notwithstanding evidence, retaliatory hiring and firing of career prosecutors, and the public direction of DOJ operations by White House staff in violation of separation rules. Legitimate prosecutorial activity follows the evidence and the law; weaponization follows the politics of who the target is.