Posted by Alumni from The Atlantic
May 4, 2026
The Justice Department is entering a hyperaggressive new era, cutting legal corners in service of getting President Trump the headlines'and revenge'he wants. Last month, Trump pushed out Attorney General Pam Bondi, reportedly because he was unhappy with her failure to secure legal victories against his enemies. Todd Blanche, for now the acting attorney general, seems to be campaigning for Trump's nomination to replace Bondi: On his watch, the department has announced a spate of new prosecutions and submitted a bizarre court filing channeling Trump's voice to argue for the construction of a White House ballroom. Under any other president, DOJ's recent activity would represent an astonishing abuse of power. Even by the standards of the second Trump administration, these actions are absurd, and unusually dangerous. The indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the left-leaning antiextremism group that has long been a bete noire of the American right, heralded this new era. The... learn more