First Comey, then James, now John Bolton. Here's who is next on Trump's legal hit list.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ’s former national security adviser John Bolton became the third high-profile Trump critic to be criminally charged on Oct. 16, after the president publicly attacked him repeatedly. All three maintain their innocence and plan to contest the charges.
The day before, Trump rattled off other names of people to be “looked into," as his Attorney General Pam Bondi , Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel stood beside him at a White House news conference, smiling.
"I hope they're looking at all of these people,” Trump said of former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, former Justice Department senior prosecutor Andrew Weissmann and California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff. “And I'm allowed to find out. I'm allowed, you know, I’m in theory chief law enforcement officer.”
This presidential interference represents a major breach in the once-firm firewall between the White House and the Justice Department.
More: John Bolton surrenders to authorities, appears in court after indictment
Former President Bill Clinton created a scandal merely by having a mundane conversation with Loretta Lynch − President Barack Obama's attorney general − at a Phoenix airport in 2016, when DOJ was investigating Clinton’s wife Hillary for her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
That recent history seems quaint today. Trump's appointees in have indicated that more indictments against Trump's personal and political adversaries will be forthcoming.
"These indictments that you’ve seen and the ones that you’re going to see coming up in the near future are just the beginning," Patel said in an interview hours after Trump's briefing with the conservative site Real America's Voice.
Trump himself told reporters Sept. 26 he expects more charges against people who have investigated or criticized him.
More: Politicized Justice Department? Comey charges take Trump's threats to new level
“I think there'll be others ," Trump said when asked who else he is targeting for "retribution." Here’s a partial rundown of who else Trump has mentioned as being on his political hit list, and why:
Already Indicted
John Bolton- former Trump national security adviser
Bolton's Oct. 16 indictment comes after federal law enforcement said in court filings that they obtained documents labeled "classified," "secret" and "confidential" during an August search of Bolton's office.
For years before that, Trump repeatedly has called for his investigation and prosecution.
"He's "a real sort of a low life" Trump said of Bolton after the FBI searched his house in August.
A lawyer for Bolton previously told USA TODAY many of the referenced materials were " previously approved " in a review before Bolton published his 2020 book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," which infuriated Trump because of its criticisms of him.
James Comey — former FBI director
Comey was indicted Sept. 25 for allegedly lying to Congress and obstruction, just days after Trump told Bondi that time was running out on the statute of limitations to prosecute him.
The charges came after months of Trump pressure, and after Trump replaced a U.S. attorney who reportedly declined to pursue the case with a political loyalist in the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Va.
Comey has pleaded not guilty and intends to try and get the case thrown out on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution and other issues.
Letitia James — New York attorney general
James was indicted Oct. 9 on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, just weeks after Trump publicly called for her to face charges .
James' office sued Trump civilly in 2022 , alleging he fraudulently inflated the value of his assets for years to get better loan deals. Trump has began accusing her of wrongdoing ever since.
More: Ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton indicted, reports say
Next on Trump's hit list:
Jack Smith, former Justice Department special counsel
Smith has been a longtime target of Trump’s since leading the two criminal investigations into him, for his alleged mishandling of classified government records and for his role in allegedly fomenting the violence during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
“Deranged Jack Smith, in my opinion, is a criminal,” Trump told reporters at his Oct. 15 White House event, as Bondi, Blanche and Patel stood beside him.
Andrew Weissmann, former senior Justice Department prosecutor
Weissmann was the lead prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. He interviewed Smith Oct. 8 at an event in London, in which Smith said his investigations into Trump were by the book and not political.
“His interviewer was Weissmann — I hope they’re going to look into Weissmann, too — Weissmann’s a bad guy,” Trump said on Wednesday. “And he had somebody, Lisa, who was his puppet, worked in the office, really, as the top person. I think she should be looked at very strongly.”
Trump was likely referring to Lisa Monaco, President Joe Biden’s deputy attorney general, who he has accused of illegal wrongdoing with Weissmann and Smith before.
"Deranged Jack Smith, Andrew Weissmann, Lisa Monaco... and all the rest of the Radical Left Zealots and Thugs who have been working illegally for years to 'take me down,' will end up, because of their suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed," Trump wrote in a Nov. 13 2023 post on his Truth Social social media platform.
Lisa Monaco, former deputy attorney general
As the deputy attorney general, Monaco held a position that traditionally runs the massive Justice Department and oversees the operations of the federal law enforcement agencies underneath it, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Trump has criticized her too for playing a role in the DOJ investigations into him and recently called on Microsoft to fire her as president of global affairs.
Sen. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California
Trump has called Schiff “shifty” and a “scam artist” who should be arrested for treason after leading the first impeachment effort during the president’s first term, when Schiff was a House lawmaker.
“I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it,” Trump in August, in reference to his attorney general. “It was a hoax created by the Democrats, but in particular, Schiff, crooked Hillary, the whole group.”
Trump has also repeatedly accused Schiff, who denies wrongdoing, of making up lies about him and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The Justice Department is investigating Schiff for potential mortgage fraud, which Schiff has also denied. That prompted Schiff to set up a legal defense fund in August.
Christopher Wray, former Trump FBI director
Trump famously soured on his own appointed FBI director before prompting Wray to resign from his 10-year appointed post following Trump’s election last November.
Trump has since hinted Wray could be subject to scrutiny or even charges, including for Trump’s unfounded claim that the FBI incited the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol carried out by his own supporters to prevent certification of Biden's victory. “Many Great American Patriots were made to pay a very big price only for the love of their Country,” Trump wrote in a Sept. 27 Truth Social post. “Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do.”
Trump told NBC News Sept. 28 last month that he “would certainly imagine ” that the DOJ was investigating Wray due to his “inappropriate” behavior as director.
George Soros, billionaire philanthropist and donor to liberal causes
The Justice Department reportedly is investigating billionaire philanthropist George Soros and his son, Alex, following repeated attacks on the duo by Trump and his supporters.
A top Justice Department official reportedly directed several federal prosecutor offices to investigate the liberal donor and his Open Society Foundations network, just weeks after Trump posted on social media that Soros and his son should be criminally charged .
Aakash Singh, a senior Justice Department official, issued the order in a letter to at least a handful of U.S. attorney's offices, including offices in New York and California, according to Sept. 25 reports from the New York Times and ABC News . The New York Times said it obtained a copy of the letter, while ABC News cited multiple anonymous sources who confirmed contents of the letter.
Open Society, which advocates for equality and justice, has denied wrongdoing and says Trump administration accusations that it foments left-wing violence are baseless. The directive cited by the Times reportedly includes arson and material support of terrorism charges.
US intelligence leaders
Trump has also frequently criticized those Obama administration intelligence officials who led probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
His calls for political payback intensified after Trump's own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard , declassified documents that she claims show that Obama CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, tried to improperly accuse Trump of collusion with Russia.
Trump has been especially fixated on Brennan, listing him at the top of the list of officials he thinks should be charged for "treason."
Both Clapper and Brennan have denied wrongdoing.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump keeps prosecuting political opponents. Here’s who might be next.
