As Trump’s Justice Department Brings Charges Against Top Former Officials, Democrats Face The Mirror Of Their Own Tactics

Monday, November 3, 2025, 4:30 A.M. ET. 6 Minute Read, Opinion Editorial, By Jennifer Hodges, Political Editor: Englebrook Independent News,

WASHINGTON, DC.- As the indictments continue to roll out, I am getting tired of hearing Democrats crying foul, claiming that President Trump has “weaponized” the Justice Department, when they were the ones who started the weaponization in the first place. From James Comey to Letitia James, from John Bolton to Special Counsel Jack Smith, the record is clear: the politicization of justice in America is not a Trump-era creation. It is the legacy of Democrats who turned the federal government into a political battlefield years ago.

     When the Trump administration’s Justice Department recently brought indictments against former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democrats erupted in outrage. They accused the President of using law enforcement to target his political opponents. But this outrage rings hollow when compared with the aggressive and unprecedented actions Democrats initiated over the last decade, most notably throughout President Trump’s first term and after the 2020 election and the investigations that followed. 

The Origins Of “Arctic Frost” And The Expanding Surveillance State;

     The roots of this so-called “weaponization” accelerated in November 2022, just three days after former President Trump announced his 2024 candidacy. That’s when Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed, and” launched what internal Justice Department documents identified as “Operation Arctic Frost.” The investigation, initially framed as a renewed probe into the events of January 6th, quickly expanded far beyond its original mandate, into a vast dragnet targeting hundreds of Republican figures and organizations across the nation.

     According to congressional and media reports, Smith’s office issued 197 subpoenas, including requests for phone and communication records from Republican lawmakers, and 427 subpoenas directed toward GOP-aligned organizations, campaign consultants, and political donors. These subpoenas were authorized and signed by D.C. District Court Judge James Boasberg, a longtime figure in the federal judiciary who has since played a role in restricting the Trump administration’s executive powers.

     Even after several of Jack Smith’s federal cases against Trump were dismissed or dropped, Judge Boasberg has continued to file injunctions blocking multiple Trump executive orders, ranging from border enforcement actions to deregulation policies. Legal scholars have questioned Boasberg’s impartiality, noting that such repeated interventions represent an unusual, possibly political, extension of judicial authority.

The DOJ-To-Bragg Pipeline and Georgia Coordination;

The overlapping web of Democratic-aligned prosecutors also raises fresh concerns. In 2023, the third-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice quietly resigned and accepted a position in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office under Alvin Bragg, where they joined the team prosecuting President Trump on state charges. That move effectively connected federal prosecutorial resources with a local political agenda, a coordination unseen in modern American law.

     Meanwhile, investigative reports confirmed that prosecutors from Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney’s Office traveled to Washington to meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland and senior DOJ officials at the White House. Those meetings, held during the height of Georgia’s investigation into alleged election interference, were characterized by officials as “status updates.” However, congressional records show the discussions involved strategic coordination between state and federal agencies pursuing parallel cases against the former president.

     Taken together, these events depict a disturbing pattern: a Democratic establishment willing to use every level of the justice system to undermine a political adversary. For years, they called this “defending democracy.” Today, it looks more like the architecture of a partisan machine.

The Precedent Democrats Created;

     This politicization didn’t begin in 2022. Its roots stretch back to the Obama administration, when the IRS was accused of targeting conservative nonprofit organizations seeking tax-exempt status. Around the same time, the Department of Justice faced scrutiny for its handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Then-FBI Director James Comey held a nationally televised press conference in 2016, declaring Clinton “extremely careless” with classified material, but refusing to recommend prosecution. For many Americans, that moment crystallized the belief that political elites operated under a different set of rules.

     By 2017, when Trump took office, that perception was reinforced by the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, the FBI’s probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. The inquiry, approved under Comey’s leadership, was primarily based on the Steele Dossier, a document later revealed to have been funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. The Justice Department’s Inspector General report in 2019 documented 17 major errors and omissions in the FISA warrant process used to surveil Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. Yet, no meaningful accountability followed.

     In 2018, Letitia James ran for New York Attorney General, explicitly vowing to “get Donald Trump.” Her campaign rhetoric was unprecedented in modern legal politics, a promise of personal prosecution before any evidence had been presented. She later led the civil fraud case that stripped Trump’s company of its operating licenses in New York, but the case was later overturned. The overtly partisan tone of her campaign and subsequent prosecutions blurred the line between law and politics. Now, James faces her own two-count federal indictment for mortgage fraud and false statements, charges that echo the very accusations she once brought against Trump.

The Reckoning Democrats Didn’t Expect;

     Fast-forward to 2025. As the Trump administration pursues indictments against the very figures who helped engineer the last decade of politically motivated prosecutions, Democrats call it “revenge.” But accountability is not revenge; it is correction. After years of selective justice and double standards, the system is finally applying its own rules equally, regardless of political affiliation.

     Former FBI Director James Comey now faces criminal charges tied to his handling of classified information and false statements to Congressional investigators. John Bolton, who once publicly broke with Trump, is under indictment for unauthorized retention of national security materials. And Letitia James, long viewed as a political crusader for the left, stands accused of financial misconduct. The same party that celebrated the use of lawfare against conservatives is now experiencing the consequences of its own precedent.

     This moment reflects an unavoidable truth: when one party normalizes weaponization, it inevitably becomes a weapon for all. The system Democrats built, through selective prosecution, coordinated investigations, and politically charged leaks, is now turning full circle.

Editor’s Note:

This op-ed includes verified data from the Department of Justice Inspector General (2019), public court filings, congressional oversight reports (2023–2025), and documented campaign statements by Letitia James. Allegations surrounding Operation Arctic Frost, the DOJ-to-Manhattan District Attorney’s Office personnel transfer, and the Georgia prosecutorial meetings with Merrick Garland are supported by official congressional records and multiple media confirmations as of November 2, 2025.