WASHINGTON, DC – On her first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi launched a “Weaponization Working Group” aimed at reviewing prosecutions against President Donald Trump, according to Cristine Soto DeBerry in an opinion in USA Today.
Founder and Executive Director of the Prosecutors Alliance, DeBerry was Chief of Staff to San Francisco District Attorneys George Gascón and Chesa Boudin, and previously served as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
This move by Bondi raises concerns about the fairness of the justice system and highlights the urgency for more independent prosecutors to stand up for the rule of law, charged DeBerry, adding Bondi’s investigation includes Trump’s 34-count felony conviction in Manhattan and his $486 million civil fraud judgment in New York.
DeBerry suggests Bondi’s investigation is not surprising, as Trump and his followers have threatened prosecutors against him for years in various attempts to hold him accountable for putting himself above the law.
DeBerry insists the “height of hypocrisy” is now being witnessed in real time as Trump continues to politicize the justice system during his second presidency.
The past month or so, the USA Today Op-Ed notes, Trump’s Justice Department has issued pardons to more than 1,500 individuals charged in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, investigated thousands of federal prosecutors and FBI employees, and directed federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams, stated DeBerry.
DeBerry reported that following the Adams directive, several Justice Department employees, including U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon have resigned, alleging in her resignation letter that the case dismissal was tied to Adams’ lawyers urging a “quid pro quo agreement.”
DeBerry adds that amid these times of justice erosion, “people can and should find hope in a crucial but overlooked role: the independent prosecutor.”
As DeBerry writes in USA Today, an independent prosecutor’s goals entail the following: uphold the rule of law, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of status, are held accountable under the law—yet these principles are “under attack from the White House and billionaires who care more about power and money than the good of our communities.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are among the independent prosecutors being investigated by Bondi for prosecuting Trump, facing political pressure and even death threats in response to their legal efforts, maintains DeBerry.
But, despite pressures, these attorneys have not backed down.
DeBerry claims “it’s no wonder” how Trump and his followers are targeting these independent prosecutors, because these attorneys “pose one of the last remaining checks on their authoritarianism.”
She suggests that when Trump can’t beat them in court, his administration attempts to “bend the machinery of justice to their will by overturning convictions,” weaponizing those who had held him accountable.
Independent prosecutors not only address the presidential accountability issues, but corporate and systemic issues as well, writes DeBerry, citing Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who has pursued legal action against pharmaceutical companies over insulin pricing inflation, while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison charged a major dairy operation with labor violations.
DeBerry adds, “…it’s no surprise that billionaires like Musk are trying to shield themselves from accountability by removing independent prosecutors.”
She adds that both Trump and Musk are aware of independent prosecutors’ ability to halt their “mad dash” to eliminate civil rights and minimize basic civil liberties, including racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and access to abortion—which they have openly dismissed.
DeBerry argues independent prosecutors are both seeking justice for communities and protecting democracy in response to these attacks on fundamental rights by the president, noting “we know he (Trump) has only scratched the surface of turning his hateful rhetoric into policy…it will be courageous independent prosecutors who step up to defend our communities.”
“If Bondi, Musk and our federal leaders’ loyalty is to Trump, let us invest in leaders whose loyalty is to the law. We need more people holding their local district attorneys accountable to the principles of independent prosecution…we need more prosecutors who mean it when they stand up in court and say ‘for the people,’” charged DeBerry in the USA Today Op-Ed.
“height of hypocrisy” is now being witnessed in real time as Trump continues to politicize the justice system during his second presidency”
No the height of hypocrisy is democrats complaining now when the AG and the DOJ were weaponized against Trump for the last four years.
I say GO Pam Bondi.