Prosecutions and Investigations of Trump Critics

Updated2026-11-09 Covers2025-01-20 to 2026-11-09

Summary

Starting in January 2025, Trump used executive orders, memoranda and posts on Truth Social. He used them to order or call for investigations and prosecutions of people who had investigated, prosecuted or criticized him. An executive order is a written order from the President to the agencies he runs. A memorandum is a written instruction. The people included James Comey, Letitia James, John Bolton, Adam Schiff and John Brennan. The Department of Justice (DOJ) opened criminal investigations of them and others.¹ Comey and James asked courts to throw out their cases. They argued that they were charged out of spite or singled out unfairly, which the law calls vindictive and selective prosecution. As proof they pointed to Trump’s posts, including a Sept 20, 2025 message to his Attorney General: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”² A judge threw out both indictments, which are formal criminal charges. The judge ruled that the prosecutor who got them had not been lawfully appointed.²⁸ Career prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to charge James.¹⁹ MSNBC reported that prosecutors said the same about Schiff, and Blanche denied it.¹⁸ A grand jury is a group of citizens who decide whether there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. Grand juries refused to charge James a second time. They also refused to charge six Democratic lawmakers and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.²⁹,¹,⁹⁵ As of Nov 8, 2026, Bolton had pleaded guilty. His case grew out of an investigation that began before Trump returned to office. In 2026 DOJ charged Comey a third time. It also charged the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas and two former FBI officials. A magistrate judge threw out the case against the two former officials. The judge found no probable cause, meaning not enough reason to believe they had committed a crime.³,⁴,⁹¹,⁹³,⁹⁴,¹³⁰ Then Democrats won control of the House. In a Nov 7, 2026 post Trump called Democrats’ promises to investigate and impeach officials “extortion,” and he said he was “ordering the Department of Justice to look into” them.¹¹¹ On Nov 8 Attorney General Todd Blanche said an investigation “could be” opened.¹¹³

Background

The Justice Department has a rulebook for its lawyers, the Justice Manual. It sets the rules for deciding when to bring federal charges.⁶⁴ The Constitution says no one may lose their liberty without due process, meaning fair legal steps (Fifth Amendment).⁶⁵ Under that rule, prosecutors may not charge someone to punish them for using their legal rights. The Supreme Court said so in Blackledge v. Perry (1974).⁶⁶ Prosecutors also may not pick whom to charge for a forbidden reason, such as the person’s use of constitutional rights. The Court said so in Wayte v. United States (1985) and United States v. Armstrong (1996).⁶⁷,⁶⁸ The Constitution’s Grand Jury Clause and a court rule, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(a), say a felony, or serious crime, must be charged by indictment. An indictment is a formal charge approved by a grand jury. Rule 7(b) allows a different kind of charge, called an information, which prosecutors file without a grand jury. That is allowed only if the defendant gives up the right to an indictment.⁶⁹

What happened

Early directives, security clearances and protection

On Jan 27, 2025 Acting Attorney General James McHenry fired prosecutors who had worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith. In late January at least a dozen senior career officials were removed from their posts.⁵,⁶ On Mar 7 DOJ moved the head of its Office of Professional Responsibility, the office that handles misconduct by DOJ lawyers, to another job. It also moved top lawyers in the National Security Division. It fired Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer.⁶,¹⁰³,¹⁰⁴ Attorney General Pam Bondi said she would “root out” employees “who despise Donald Trump,” and Trump ally Mike Davis said: “The Justice Department is not independent of the President.”⁶ On Feb 11, 2025 Steve Bannon urged Bondi to open criminal investigations of Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.⁷

On Jan 20, 2025 Trump signed an executive order that took away the security clearances of Brennan and 50 other former intelligence officials. A security clearance is permission to see secret government information. These officials had signed a 2020 letter, before that year’s election, about the Hunter Biden laptop story.⁸ That week Trump removed Bolton’s federal security detail, the guards who protected him. Bolton had been the target of an Iranian plot to kill him. On Jan 23 the administration ended Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail.⁹ Biden had pardoned Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House January 6 committee on Jan 20, his last day in office. A pardon forgives a federal crime. These pardons were preemptive, meaning they came before any charges.¹⁰⁵ On Jan 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon inspector general, an internal watchdog, to investigate Milley’s conduct. The inspector general was also to look at whether Milley’s rank should be lowered. Hegseth also removed Milley’s security detail and suspended his security clearance.¹⁰ On Feb 25 a presidential memorandum told the Attorney General and agency heads to suspend security clearances held by Peter Koski. It did the same for lawyers at the law firm Covington & Burling who had helped Smith. It also told agencies to end the firm’s government work as far as the law allows. It cited “the weaponization of the judicial process.”⁹⁰ On Mar 16/17 Trump posted about Biden’s preemptive pardons for members of the House January 6 committee. He said they were “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT” because they were signed by autopen. An autopen is a machine that copies a person’s signature.¹¹ On June 4, 2025 a presidential memorandum told the White House Counsel to investigate, working with the Attorney General. The questions were whether Biden’s aides hid his condition, which documents were signed by autopen, and who ordered it. Biden said he made the decisions himself. He called the suggestion that he did not “ridiculous and false.”¹²⁴ On Oct 28, 2025 Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released a staff report, “The Biden Autopen Presidency,” on these questions. The report “deems void all executive actions signed by the autopen without proper, corresponding, contemporaneous, written approval traceable to the president’s own consent” — in plain words, it treats those actions as having no legal force. It asked DOJ to look closely at three former Biden aides who had used their Fifth Amendment right to stay silent. Committee Democrats said the majority “failed to produce any evidence to support their allegations against President Biden.”¹³¹ On Mar 4, 2026 NBC News reported that DOJ had set aside its criminal investigation of Biden’s autopen use. Ed Martin had opened that investigation as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. It was never presented to a grand jury.¹³²

On Apr 9, 2025 presidential memoranda ordered federal reviews of two former officials. One was Chris Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Krebs’s Rumor Control website had corrected false claims about the 2020 election. The other was Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Taylor had written under the name “Anonymous”. The Krebs memorandum told the Attorney General and the Homeland Security Secretary to review his activities. The Taylor memorandum ordered a DHS review.¹² The memoranda called Krebs “a significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority”. They described Taylor’s conduct as “possibly violating the Espionage Act.”⁷⁰ The Espionage Act is a federal law against sharing or mishandling national defense information. The memoranda also suspended clearances held by Krebs’s employer, SentinelOne. Krebs then resigned from the company.¹² On Dec 23, 2025 Judge Amir Ali of the federal court in Washington (D.D.C.) ordered the government to “immediately and fully restore” the security clearance of lawyer Mark Zaid. Zaid had represented the whistleblower behind Trump’s first impeachment. A Mar 22, 2025 presidential memo had taken away his clearance.⁶² Zaid argued that taking his clearance without fair steps broke several rules. The first are the First Amendment, which protects free speech, and the Fifth Amendment.⁷⁵,⁶⁵ The next is the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that sets the rules agencies must follow.⁸⁶ The last is the Bill of Attainder Clause, which bars Congress from passing a law that punishes a named person without a trial (Art. I §9 cl. 3⁷⁴). Ali held that the revocation was likely unconstitutional. He wrote: “These are not political questions; they are legal ones.” The D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court in Washington, heard the government’s appeal on May 14, 2026.⁶²

Comey and James prosecutions

On Jul 16, 2025 DOJ fired prosecutor Maurene Comey, James Comey’s daughter. It used a one-line email that cited “Article II of the United States Constitution” and gave no reason.⁷¹ Article II is the part of the Constitution that sets out the President’s powers. A person familiar with the situation told CNN that being a Comey was “untenable” in the administration.¹⁵ Erik Siebert was the interim U.S. attorney, the top federal prosecutor, for the Eastern District of Virginia (E.D. Va.). He told DOJ leaders that the evidence was not enough to charge James. On Sept 19 he left office. Trump said that day, “Yeah, I want him out.”¹⁹ On Sept 20 Trump posted “Pam:… JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” The post named Comey, Schiff and James. NBC News and the Wall Street Journal reported that the message was meant to be private.² On Sept 22 Lindsey Halligan was put in as interim U.S. attorney. She was a former Trump lawyer who had never worked as a prosecutor.²⁰ On Sept 25 she got a grand jury to indict Comey. The charges were making a false statement to Congress and obstructing, or blocking, a congressional proceeding.²¹ On Oct 9 she got an indictment of James for bank fraud and for making false statements to a financial institution, such as a bank.²² The mortgage referral behind the James case is covered under Mortgage-fraud referrals below.

On Nov 17, 2025 Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick found “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in how Halligan handled the Comey grand jury. These included at least two “fundamental misstatements of the law.”²⁷ On Nov 19 prosecutors admitted that the full grand jury never saw the final Comey indictment.¹²⁵ On Nov 20 DOJ said that it had.¹²⁶ On Nov 24 Judge Cameron Currie ruled that Halligan had not been lawfully appointed. Currie held that the indictments “were unlawful exercises of executive power,” and threw out both cases. The cases were dismissed without prejudice, which means DOJ could try to bring the charges again.²⁸ Grand juries in Norfolk (Dec 4) and Alexandria (Dec 11) then refused to charge James again.²⁹ On Jan 8, 2026 Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that John Sarcone was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. The judge barred him from two investigations of James.³⁴ Halligan resigned on Jan 20, 2026. She acknowledged that her 120-day temporary term had run out.³⁵ On Apr 2 Trump fired Bondi. NBC News and the Washington Post reported that his reasons included the dismissed Comey and James cases. They also included her handling of the Epstein files.³⁷

On Apr 28, 2026 a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted Comey under two federal laws. One makes it a crime to threaten the President (18 U.S.C. §871).⁷⁶ The other makes it a crime to send a threat from one state to another (§875(c)).⁷⁷ The charges concern a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells spelling “86 47.”³⁸ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the case. He said “you are not allowed to threaten the President of the United States of America” and rejected the argument that the post was speech protected by the Constitution. Comey denies the charges.³⁸ On Sept 15 a panel of judges on the Fourth Circuit appeals court heard DOJ’s appeal of the Comey and James dismissals. Law&Crime reported that the judges pressed DOJ’s lawyer, including on DOJ’s ratification argument. That argument is that Bondi’s later approval fixed the problem with Halligan’s appointment.⁴³ On Oct 26 DOJ made public a third case against Comey. It is an Espionage Act charge (18 U.S.C. §793) over an alleged 2016 leak. DOJ had filed it in secret, under seal, on Oct 5, the last day of the 10-year time limit for bringing the charge. That time limit is called the limitations period. The charge is a criminal information, which prosecutors file without a grand jury.⁴ The same day Judge Jesse Furman ruled that DOJ had unlawfully fired Maurene Comey.⁴⁵ On Oct 30 Judge Trevor McFadden heard Comey’s request to throw out the Espionage Act charge as filed too late. DOJ said it is seeking a grand-jury indictment. McFadden said “There is at least one novel issue” and did not rule.¹³⁵

Mortgage-fraud referrals

On Jul 15, 2025 Trump posted that Schiff showed “a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud.”¹³ Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), sent a criminal referral, which is a formal request for prosecutors to look into a possible crime. It became a DOJ inquiry led by Pulte and DOJ’s Ed Martin.¹⁴ Pulte also sent mortgage-fraud referrals about James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and, later, Rep. Eric Swalwell. All of them deny wrongdoing.¹⁴,⁵⁷ On Oct 23 MSNBC reported that Maryland’s U.S. attorney had told DOJ bosses that the evidence was not enough to indict Schiff. MSNBC also reported that Martin kept pushing the case. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the account.¹⁸ On Oct 30 about a dozen Fannie Mae ethics officials were fired. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), they had been looking into whether people working under Pulte had improperly gotten Democrats’ mortgage records.⁴⁶ On Nov 3 Reuters reported that FHFA had removed its acting inspector general, Joe Allen. According to that report, Allen had shared information with the prosecutors investigating James. He was also getting ready to tell Congress that FHFA was not cooperating.⁶³ On Feb 2, 2026 Martin was removed as head of the Weaponization Working Group. He stayed on as pardon attorney.³⁶ On Mar 20, 2026 Swalwell dropped his Privacy Act suit, which said Pulte had wrongly looked at his private mortgage records. His campaign said DOJ never acted on Pulte’s referral. Pulte posted “Stay tuned.”¹³⁹

Jack Smith, Brennan and the “grand conspiracy” inquiry

DOJ opened a criminal investigation of Brennan. On Oct 21, 2025 the House Judiciary Committee also referred him to DOJ. The committee said he made false statements in testimony in May 2023. That testimony was about the role of the Steele dossier in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment.⁸ On May 15, 2025 the FBI broke up CR-15, its Washington squad for public-corruption cases. The squad had worked on the inquiry behind Smith’s 2020-election case.⁴⁷ On Aug 2 the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) opened an investigation of Smith. It acted on a referral from Sen. Tom Cotton. The investigation is under the Hatch Act, a law that limits political activity by federal employees on the job.¹⁶,⁷² On Sept 26 NBC and the New York Times reported that DOJ had sent a subpoena for the travel records of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. A subpoena is a legal order to hand over documents or testify.²⁴ The same day, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones asked a court to seat new grand juries in southern Florida, and the court ordered it. Davis later said the grand jury in Fort Pierce would hear a “grand conspiracy” case. He said it would cover the Russia investigation, the Mar-a-Lago search and Smith.²⁵ By Nov 7 prosecutors had issued more than 130 subpoenas in the investigation, including one to Brennan.²⁶

On Feb 23, 2026 Judge Aileen Cannon granted requests from Trump and his former co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. She permanently barred DOJ from releasing Volume II of Smith’s report, which covers the classified-documents case. She also barred DOJ from sharing “any information or conclusions” from it outside the department. Bondi’s DOJ had agreed that the volume “should not be released outside of the Department of Justice.” Cannon held that release would be a “manifest injustice” to defendants whose charges ended without a finding of guilt. American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute had asked to join the case and were turned down. They appealed.¹⁰⁰ On June 9 Trump announced that Pulte would serve as acting Director of National Intelligence from June 19. CNN sources said his assignment included Brennan and the 2016 Russia assessment.⁴⁰ In September Joe diGenova, who led the “grand conspiracy” investigation, left the Justice Department. He told NBC that “lanes got crossed” in his final days.⁴² On Sept 14 Brennan’s lawyer said in a court filing that Brennan had been ordered to appear Oct 15 before the grand jury in Fort Pierce. The lawyer said a prosecutor told him Brennan “remains a target” of a separate Washington investigation into whether he lied to Congress in 2023. Brennan denies it.¹³⁴ On Sept 29 Smith testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would not be silenced by “continued threats of prosecution.”⁴² On Nov 6, 2026 Jason Reding Quiñones resigned as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the office running the Fort Pierce investigation. Blanche announced it and gave no reason. CBS reported a lot of grand-jury activity but no charges proving the claimed overall conspiracy. No outlet named a new lead for the investigation.¹³³

Classified-information cases: Bolton and Kent

On Aug 22, 2025 the FBI searched Bolton’s home and office.¹⁷ On Oct 16 a Maryland grand jury indicted him on 18 counts of sending and keeping national defense information. Career prosecutors signed the case.²³,¹⁷ On Mar 17, 2026 Joe Kent resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He wrote that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”¹⁰¹ On Mar 18–19 NBC News and Fox News reported that the FBI was investigating Kent for allegedly sharing classified information. The probe began before he resigned. A senior official called him a “known leaker.”¹²⁸ On Jun 26, 2026 Bolton pleaded guilty to one count of keeping national defense information.³

Lawmakers, Fauci and Hutchinson

On Nov 18, 2025 six Democratic members of Congress posted a video. All of them had served in the military or in intelligence. The video told service members they “can refuse illegal orders.”³⁰ Trump posted that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”³¹ On Nov 24, 2025 the Pentagon announced it was investigating Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain. It cited a federal law that lets the military order retired members back to active duty (10 U.S.C. §688).⁷³ It warned of a possible “recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.” A court-martial is a military trial.³² On Jan 5, 2026 Hegseth formally rebuked, or censured, Kelly for “conduct unbecoming an officer” and started steps to lower his retired rank.³³ A D.C. grand jury refused to indict the lawmakers on Feb 10, 2026.¹,⁹⁵ On Feb 12 Judge Richard Leon issued an order stopping the censure and the rank reduction. He found that the defendants had “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms.”¹²⁷,⁷⁵ On May 10 Hegseth announced in a post that Pentagon lawyers would start a review. They would look at whether Kelly had revealed classified information in a TV interview about stockpiles of munitions.³⁹

On Aug 6, 2026 the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8–5 to hold Fauci in contempt. Before the vote, Fauci had used his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent more than 100 times.⁴¹,¹²⁹ Republicans pointed to the Supreme Court case Brown v. Walker (1896).⁷⁸ They argued that his pardon took away his right to stay silent.⁴¹ Chair Rand Paul sent the referral to DOJ without a full Senate vote.¹²⁹ On Oct 12, Homeland Security Investigations searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington home. That was 22 days before the midterm election, in which she was a candidate. The judge who signed the search warrant limited access to her records because she is a sitting member of Congress. DOJ called it “an ongoing federal criminal investigation” into alleged immigration fraud. The WSJ reported that the aim was to build a case for taking away her citizenship. Trump said he had “nothing to do with it.”⁴⁴ On Oct 28 U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked the court to keep the search warrant sealed. She said it had not yet been fully carried out and that charging decisions would follow. Omar calls the investigation an attempt by Trump to intimidate her and denies wrongdoing. No charges had been filed as of Nov 3, when she won a fifth term.¹⁴⁰ Reps. Barry Loudermilk and Jim Jordan had referred former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to DOJ over her testimony to the January 6 committee. On Oct 27 a D.C. grand jury refused to indict her. CBS News reported that DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was presenting the case.⁹⁵

State officials, the SPLC and former FBI officials

On Jan 20, 2026 DOJ sent grand-jury subpoenas to Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. The probe was looking at whether they had plotted together to get in the way of federal agents. Blanche called their actions “terrorism.”⁹⁶ On Apr 21 a grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama indicted the SPLC on 11 counts. The charges were wire fraud, false statements to a bank and conspiracy to launder money. The indictment says that from 2014 to 2023 the group secretly paid more than $3 million to informants inside extremist groups. It also says the group cheated its donors. Blanche said the SPLC was “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose”. Interim CEO Bryan Fair called the claims false and said the group had been “targeted.”⁹¹ On Jun 15 Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said DOJ had opened an investigation of him and his wife. Reports said the federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of California were running it.⁹² On Jun 17 Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed, or cancelled, the Minnesota subpoenas. He wrote that opening a criminal investigation to harass political opponents or to force official action is “a blatantly unlawful and unethical use” of the grand jury.⁹⁶ On Aug 7 Judge Emily Marks turned down the SPLC’s request to throw out the case as vindictive. On Aug 11 a second superseding indictment, which is a replacement set of charges, added former SPLC official Heidi Beirich.⁹¹ On Nov 2 Beirich asked the court to throw out the charges against her as politically motivated. Her request says the case was driven by “Animus toward Dr. Beirich’s and the SPLC’s disfavored, but First Amendment-protected, speech.”¹³⁶

On Oct 22, 2026, 12 days before the midterms, DOJ made public a racketeering indictment dated Oct 14. Racketeering means committing a pattern of crimes through a group or business. The people charged are Virginia Senate President pro tem L. Louise Lucas, two of her daughters, a grandson and three associates. Lucas had been a key figure in pushing through Virginia’s congressional map, which voters approved. The case followed FBI searches of her office and her dispensary on May 6. Blanche said DOJ’s pre-election “blackout period” is a practice, not a law. Lucas was released on her own recognizance, meaning without having to post bail. She said: “I will not be intimidated.”⁹³ On Oct 23 DOJ made public a criminal complaint against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides. A complaint is a charge filed without a grand jury. The two are former FBI officials who led the Foreign Influence Task Force. The complaint charged them with lying in 2023 testimony to the House Judiciary Committee about the Hunter Biden investigation.⁹⁴ An FBI agent testified that the case was opened at Patel’s request. That was a day after a July speech in which Trump ordered prosecutions.¹³⁰ On Nov 2 Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui threw out the complaint. He said it “can’t be described as anything other than weaponization.” DOJ said it was “evaluating all options,” including an indictment.¹³⁰

Post-election directive on Democrats’ oversight pledges

Democrats won control of the House in the Nov 3, 2026 midterm elections (see The 2026 Midterms).¹⁰⁷ Oversight is Congress’s job of checking on the executive branch. Rep. Robert Garcia is set to chair the House Oversight Committee. On Nov 4 and 5 he told administration officials to “lawyer up,” and Rep. Jamie Raskin promised investigations.¹⁰⁸ Three weeks before the election, on Oct 13, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) had spoken at a University of Chicago event. “I want to look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president, but on the people who enabled him,” she said. She also said: “I want young people coming out of school to say, should I go work for the Trump administration? … I want that deterrence message.” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Slotkin was threatening young people interested in politics. Slotkin said Lee had lied about her comments.¹⁰⁹

On Nov 6 Trump named Stephen Miller his chief of staff. That day Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News: “Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It’s me. It’s me and the entire Department of Justice.” He said it was “so disgusting” to see Democrats “laying their cards on the table” before the week was out. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) replied on X: “You did not swear an oath to trump, or to trump’s chief of staff. You swore an oath to the United States Constitution.”¹¹⁰

Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) said they supported impeaching Blanche. After that, on Nov 7, Trump posted on Truth Social. Democrats were “threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment,” he wrote. He added: “This is extortion at the highest level.” The post said Slotkin “is saying that she is going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values,” which referred to her Oct 13 remarks. It also said: “The imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS.” “Threatening letters have been sent to many people, all innocent, from Democrat Political Leaders,” the post said. It ended: “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!”¹¹¹ Slotkin was the only person the post named. Reuters, CNBC and Al Jazeera reported that Trump offered no evidence. CNBC reported that he did not identify the letters, who sent them or who got them. Newsweek reported that he cited no federal statute, meaning no specific law. Reuters noted that members of Congress had released letters asking for documents about donations from tech companies to the White House ballroom.¹¹¹ Minutes later Trump wrote a second post, according to ANI. He asked Republican donors and party members to report Democratic “threats.” They could report to DOJ or “directly to me, your President,” he wrote. He also wrote: “These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail for what they are doing.” That post named no person and described no specific threat.¹¹² DOJ did not respond to Reuters. As of Nov 7 it had not confirmed opening an investigation.¹¹¹

Trump’s answer to the election was to “promote Stephen Miller to Chief of Staff … And then have Stephen draft a tweet threatening to put me in jail,” Slotkin said. She added: “if you break the law or use taxpayer dollars to enrich yourself, you should be held accountable. If you didn’t break the law, then it’s all good.” Raskin, quoted by Newsweek, said DOJ had become “an instrument of revenge, political revenge for the president.”¹¹¹ On Sept 20, 2025, Trump had publicly told Bondi to prosecute Comey, Schiff and James.² On Nov 14, 2025 he had ordered DOJ to investigate Epstein’s ties to Democrats. He named Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan Chase.¹¹⁴ Slotkin was one of the six lawmakers in the “illegal orders” video. Trump had called that video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” A D.C. grand jury refused to indict the six on Feb 10, 2026.³¹,¹¹⁵

On Nov 8 Blanche appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. He was asked whether DOJ might investigate Democrats over their oversight of the administration. “It depends on what’s said. So yes, it could be,” he said. He also said: “I’m not saying that necessarily every case is going to be prosecuted.” He was asked about Trump’s call to imprison the “EXTORTIONISTS,” and he said it “depends on what the crime is and what they’ve done.” He pointed to Garcia’s “Lawyer up,” remark and said: “I would be very worried if I was a member on that committee.” “I welcome oversight,” Blanche also said, and “You have free speech in this country”. According to Democracy Docket, he argued that Democrats were going beyond Congress’s oversight power. He said they did so by threatening impeachments and “going after” private companies and college students. Newsweek, NOTUS and The National Desk reported that he announced no investigation and named no criminal statute.¹¹³ On Fox News Sunday he said: “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me.”¹¹³ Garcia was interviewed on CNN after Blanche. He said Blanche was “threatening our committee” and added: “They can come after us however they want. We’re not going to be intimidated.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, quoted by AP, said officials “shortchanging the American people” should be “held accountable in a manner consistent with Congress’ role, constitutionally.”¹¹³

On Nov 9 Slotkin’s lawyer, Preet Bharara, asked Blanche in a public letter to confirm that DOJ would not investigate her. He wrote: “There is no conceivable basis to investigate the Senator.” A DOJ spokesperson did not rule out an investigation. The spokesperson said “We follow the facts and the law.”¹³⁷ The same day Blanche said DOJ is “not going to stop working with Congress” or stop it from doing oversight. He added that “nothing I’ve said this weekend or in the past should suggest otherwise.”¹³⁸

Key dates

• 2025-01-20 — Brennan and 50 others lose clearances — → ledger
• 2025-06-04 — Memorandum orders autopen review — → ledger
• 2025-07-15 — Schiff “Mortgage Fraud” post — → ledger
• 2025-09-20 — “Pam:” post — → ledger
• 2025-09-25 — Comey indicted — → ledger
• 2025-10-09 — James indicted — → ledger
• 2025-10-16 — Bolton indicted — → ledger
• 2025-10-28 — House Oversight majority report “The Biden Autopen Presidency” — → ledger
• 2025-11-24 — Comey and James indictments dismissed — → ledger
• 2025-12-04 — Grand juries refuse to re-indict James — → ledger
• 2026-02-23 — Cannon bars release of Smith report Volume II — → ledger
• 2026-03-04 — NBC: DOJ shelves autopen probe — → ledger
• 2026-04-02 — Bondi fired — → ledger
• 2026-04-21 — SPLC indicted — → ledger
• 2026-04-28 — Second Comey indictment (“86 47”) — → ledger
• 2026-06-26 — Bolton pleads guilty — → ledger
• 2026-10-12 — Omar’s home searched — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 — Lucas indictment unsealed — → ledger
• 2026-10-26 — Third Comey case — → ledger
• 2026-11-06 — Blanche: “Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It’s me” — → ledger
• 2026-11-06 — Quiñones, head of the office running the “grand conspiracy” probe, resigns — → ledger
• 2026-11-07 — Trump orders DOJ to “look into” Democrats’ oversight pledges — → ledger
• 2026-11-08 — Blanche says an investigation “could be” opened — → ledger

Why it matters

Vindictive and selective prosecution (Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause). A defendant may ask a court to throw out a case by showing it was brought out of spite, which is called vindictiveness. A defendant may also show that the case was picked for a forbidden reason, such as the person’s protected speech (Blackledge v. Perry, 1974; United States v. Armstrong, 1996). In the Comey and James cases, the legal question is whether the President’s public calls to charge named people prove that motive. One example is the Sept 20, 2025 post. Both defendants made that argument.² The record here does not include DOJ’s answer to those requests. In July 2026 Comey asked the court to throw out the “86 47” case as vindictive and selective. His request also says the Secret Service watched him without a warrant. The court has not ruled on it.⁴⁹,⁴⁸ In the SPLC case Judge Marks turned down such a request on Aug 7, 2026.⁹¹ On Jun 17, 2026 Chief Judge Schiltz cancelled the Minnesota officials’ subpoenas. He said a grand jury may not be used to harass political opponents or to force official action.⁹⁶

Interim and acting U.S. attorneys (Appointments Clause, Art. II §2 cl. 2; Federal Vacancies Reform Act, 5 U.S.C. §3345; 28 U.S.C. §546(d)).⁷¹,⁷⁹,⁸⁰ The Constitution’s Appointments Clause sets out how top federal officials may be chosen. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act is a law on who may fill an empty federal post for a time. An interim U.S. attorney may serve a 120-day term. When it runs out, §546(d) gives the district court the power to make the appointment. On Nov 24, 2025, Judge Currie ruled Halligan’s appointment invalid and threw out the indictments. Judge Schofield ruled on Jan 8, 2026 that Sarcone was not lawfully serving.²⁸,³⁴ On appeal, DOJ says the problem was a harmless “error in the title.” It says Bondi fixed it by later approving what Halligan did, which is called ratification. The Fourth Circuit has not ruled.⁴³

Retiree recall and speech (First Amendment; 10 U.S.C. §688). The Pentagon opened its investigation of Kelly, a sitting senator, over the video. It cited §688, which allows retired regular members of the military to be ordered back to active duty. It also cited the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the set of criminal laws for the armed forces.⁸¹ Hegseth’s stated grounds were “conduct unbecoming an officer” and conduct that “brings discredit upon the armed forces.”³³,³² Judge Leon found that “the retaliation framework fits like a glove” — that is, the legal test for whether the government punished someone for speech fit this case. He stopped the actions with a court order. The government has appealed. The review of classified disclosures remains open.¹²⁷,³⁹

True threats (18 U.S.C. §§871, 875(c); First Amendment). The Supreme Court decided Counterman v. Colorado (2023).⁸² Under that case, the government must prove the speaker knew of a serious risk that the words would be taken as a threat of violence, and ignored that risk.³⁸ Blanche’s position is that the “86 47” post was such a threat. Comey’s defense relies on the First Amendment. Former federal judge John Gleeson filed a sworn statement, called an affidavit. It says “86” “is not part of the mafia lexicon at all, let alone used as a reference to killing someone.”³⁸,⁴⁹ No court has ruled on the requests.⁴⁸

Contempt of Congress (2 U.S.C. §§192, 194; Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination).⁸³,⁸⁴,⁶⁵ Under a federal law, it is a crime for a witness to refuse to testify or hand over papers that Congress demands. The Fifth Amendment lets a person refuse to answer questions that could help charge them with a crime. Section 194 sets the next steps. The contempt is reported to the House or Senate. Then its presiding officer certifies it, or formally sends it, to a U.S. attorney. The committee’s Republicans argued that Biden’s January 2025 pardon took away Fauci’s right to stay silent. Paul sent the referral to DOJ without a full Senate vote. He addressed it to Vice President Vance for certification.⁴¹,¹²⁹,¹⁰⁵ Attorney Ross Garber said a prosecution without a full-Senate vote or proper certification would likely fail. The WSJ reported in late August that administration lawyers shared that concern. No charges have been filed.¹²⁹,⁵⁴

Removal of a career prosecutor (separation of powers; Civil Service Reform Act; Administrative Procedure Act).⁸⁵,⁸⁶ Separation of powers is the Constitution’s split of power among Congress, the President and the courts. The Civil Service Reform Act lets most career federal workers be fired only for cause and lets them appeal. DOJ’s stated basis for firing Maurene Comey was Article II. Judge Furman held that the firing broke all three of these. DOJ relied on the Supreme Court’s June decision on firing members of independent agencies.⁸⁷ But Furman rejected DOJ’s attempt to “upend” settled law that lets Congress set rules for removing lower-level officers, called inferior officers. DOJ admitted the firing was not for cause, meaning not for a job-related reason. It will appeal.⁴⁵ See Justice Department and FBI Personnel Changes.

Denaturalization (8 U.S.C. §1451) and election-year timing (Justice Manual 9-85.500). Denaturalization means taking away citizenship from someone who became a citizen after birth. Section 1451 allows this when citizenship was “illegally procured or … procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”⁸⁸ In plain words, that means gained unlawfully, or by hiding an important fact or lying on purpose. One question is whether Omar became a citizen automatically as a child when her father became a citizen. She has not been charged.⁴⁴ DOJ’s election-year policy bars timing investigative steps to affect an election.⁸⁹ The Washington Post reported on how the Omar search departed from it.⁴⁴ The Lucas indictment was made public 12 days before the election. In announcing it, Blanche said the blackout period is a practice, not a law.⁹³

Probable cause and grand-jury declinations (18 U.S.C. §1001; Fed. R. Crim. P. 5.1).⁹⁷,⁹⁸ Probable cause means enough reason to believe a person committed a crime. Section 1001 makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully make a materially false statement in a matter the federal government handles. “Materially” means the false statement is important. Some cases start with a complaint instead of an indictment. In those cases a court rule, Rule 5.1, applies when a magistrate judge finds no probable cause. The judge must “dismiss the complaint and discharge the defendant,” which means end the case and let the person go. That does not stop a later prosecution. Faruqui found no probable cause on knowledge, willfulness or materiality.¹³⁰ In the same way, a grand jury’s refusal to indict does not stop another try. That was the case with the six lawmakers and Hutchinson.⁹⁵

Special-counsel reports (28 C.F.R. §§ 600.8(c), 600.9(c); common-law and First Amendment access).¹⁰² Under Justice Department rules, a special counsel’s final report goes to the Attorney General in confidence. The Attorney General may release it after finding that release “would be in the public interest.” DOJ has declined to release Volume II. So the question in the appeal to the Eleventh Circuit is whether the public has a right to see it as a court record. That right could come from the common law, which is law made by judges over time, or from the First Amendment. The Knight Institute called Cannon’s order “impossible to square with the First Amendment and the common law.”¹⁰⁰

Charging by information (Grand Jury Clause; Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(b)). The third Comey case may have been filed as an information. If so, the Grand Jury Clause and Rule 7(b) let it go forward as a felony only if Comey gives up his right to an indictment.⁶⁹ It was also filed on the last day of the time limit for bringing charges.⁴ No court has ruled on how it was charged or on whether it was filed in time.⁴

The autopen declaration (Art. II §2 cl. 1, the Pardon Clause).⁷¹ The Pardon Clause gives the President the power to pardon federal crimes. The record here does not give a legal basis for Trump’s declaration beyond the autopen signature. It also includes no court ruling on it.¹¹

The Nov 7 directive on Democrats’ oversight pledges (First Amendment; 18 U.S.C. §§875(c), 115, 1951; Art. I §6, the Speech or Debate Clause; Art. II §3).⁷⁵,⁷⁷,¹¹⁷,¹¹⁸,¹²⁰,⁷¹ Trump called the pledges “extortion” and a “criminal act,” but neither his posts nor Blanche’s Nov 8 remarks, as reported, named a statute.¹¹¹,¹¹³ The First Amendment does not protect “true threats,” as courts call them. Under Counterman v. Colorado (2023), a threats case requires proof about the speaker’s state of mind. The speaker must at least have known of a serious risk that the words would be taken as a threat of violence, and ignored it. In Elonis v. United States (2015), the Supreme Court held that §875(c) cannot rest on negligence alone. That means carelessness by the speaker is not enough.⁸²,¹¹⁶ Section 875(c) punishes messages sent across state lines that threaten to kidnap or injure a person. Section 115 punishes threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a federal official. The threat must be meant to block or frighten the official, or to get back at the official for doing the job.⁷⁷,¹¹⁷ The Democratic statements quoted in the ledger are about investigations, impeachment and accountability. None quoted there refers to violence.¹⁰⁸,¹⁰⁹,¹¹¹ The Hobbs Act is a federal law against extortion. It defines extortion as “the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right” (§1951(b)(2)). In Sekhar v. United States (2013), the Supreme Court held that the property must be something the victim can hand over. So trying to force a lawyer’s recommendation was not extortion. Trump’s posts, as quoted, do not claim that anyone sought money or property.¹¹⁸,¹¹⁹,¹¹¹ Congress’s power to investigate comes from its power to make laws, even though the Constitution does not spell it out. In Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP (2020), the Supreme Court held that a congressional subpoena must be “related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress.”¹²¹ The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects members of Congress for their work in Congress. For “any Speech or Debate in either House,” it says, members “shall not be questioned in any other Place.” But in Hutchinson v. Proxmire (1979), the Supreme Court held that the clause does not cover statements made outside the work of making laws, such as newsletters and press releases. So remarks like Slotkin’s at a university event fall outside it. The First Amendment covers them instead.¹²⁰,¹²²,¹⁰⁹ Blanche says Democrats go beyond the oversight power by threatening impeachments and “going after” private companies and college students. He says whether a crime occurred “depends on what’s said”. Jeffries says accountability will proceed “in a manner consistent with Congress’ role, constitutionally.”¹¹³ Article II §3 of the Constitution, called the Take Care Clause, tells the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”⁷¹ Attorney General Garland issued a memorandum on July 21, 2021 about DOJ contacts with the White House. It covers talks about specific investigations and cases, whether open or only planned. Only certain senior officials may have those talks. They are allowed only when they matter to the President’s duties and make sense from a law-enforcement view.¹²³ The question it raises is whether a public order from the President to investigate political opponents fits that policy. Trump’s order was issued “By copy of this statement,” in a public post. The ledger does not record whether the memorandum has been withdrawn.¹¹¹

Outcome

Where things stand

As of Nov 8, 2026, Bolton had pleaded guilty to one of 18 counts. That plea carries up to five years, a $2.25M fine and loss of federal retirement pay.³ Both Eastern District of Virginia indictments were thrown out. Halligan and Bondi are gone. Martin left DOJ on Aug 21, 2026.²⁸,³⁵,³⁷,³⁶ DOJ’s newer cases are before trial courts. They are the “86 47” and Espionage Act charges against Comey, the SPLC case and the Lucas racketeering case.⁴⁸,⁴,⁹¹,⁹³ Grand juries have refused to indict James twice. They also refused to indict the six lawmakers and Hutchinson.²⁹,¹,⁹⁵

Several steps are still pending. Bolton’s sentencing is set for early December. Appeals courts have not ruled on the Comey and James dismissals, Zaid’s clearance or Volume II. DOJ also plans to appeal the Maurene Comey ruling. The Status table names the next step for each item.⁵⁰,⁴³,⁶²,¹⁰⁰,⁴⁵ No charges have been filed in the investigations of Brennan, Schiff, Omar, Kent, Newsom and E. Jean Carroll. None have been filed in the federal reviews of Krebs and Taylor either.²⁶,¹⁸,⁴⁴,¹²⁸,⁵²,⁹²,⁵⁸ Quiñones, whose office ran the Fort Pierce “grand conspiracy” investigation, resigned on Nov 6, 2026. CBS reported no charges proving the claimed overall conspiracy.¹³³ As of Nov 9, 2026, DOJ had announced no investigation in response to Trump’s Nov 7 directive on Democrats’ oversight pledges. Blanche said one “could be” opened and named no statute.¹¹¹,¹¹³ On Nov 9 a DOJ spokesperson did not rule out investigating Slotkin, and Blanche said DOJ would not stop Congress from doing oversight.¹³⁷,¹³⁸ See also Inspectors General and Watchdogs, Travel Bans, Refugees and Denaturalization, Pardons and Clemency (the autopen claim), Federal Reserve Independence (Cook), Federal Actions on Election Administration and Conflicts Between the Executive and the Courts.

Status

Who is affected

This affects people the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged, who face rulings on dismissal, trial or sentencing. It also affects people DOJ investigated without bringing charges.¹,²⁶ It affects former officials and lawyers who lost security clearances or federal protection. It affects career prosecutors and housing-agency oversight staff who were removed. It also affects Minnesota officials who got grand-jury subpoenas.⁸,⁹,⁵,⁴⁶,⁹⁶ Comey and James asked courts to throw out their cases. They argued that Trump’s posts showed vindictive or selective prosecution. The record does not include DOJ’s answer.² The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) made the same argument. Judge Emily Marks turned down its request.⁹¹

• Comey and James (Eastern District of Virginia indictments, Blocked) — Judge Cameron Currie threw out both on Nov 24, 2025, in a way that lets DOJ try again. Currie held that Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed. On Dec 4 and 11, 2025, grand juries refused to charge James again. The Fourth Circuit heard DOJ’s appeal on Sept 15, 2026.²⁸,²⁹,⁴³
• Comey (“86 47” threats case and Espionage Act charge, Pending) — indicted Apr 28, 2026 and charged in a second case made public Oct 26, 2026. On Jul 28, 2026 he asked the court to throw out the threats case as vindictive and selective; that request is undecided. His first court appearance, the arraignment, is set for January 2027.³⁸,⁴,⁴⁸,⁴⁹
• Bolton (national-defense-information case, Pending) — pleaded guilty Jun 26, 2026 to one of 18 counts. The count carries up to five years, a $2.25 million fine and loss of federal retirement pay. At sentencing, set for early December 2026, DOJ asks for 60 months and the defense asks for probation.³,⁵⁰
• The SPLC and a former official (wire-fraud, bank false-statement and money-laundering-conspiracy indictment, Pending) — indicted on 11 counts Apr 21, 2026. Judge Marks turned down the vindictive-prosecution request on Aug 7, and an Aug 11 replacement indictment added former official Heidi Beirich.⁹¹
• Lucas and six co-defendants (racketeering indictment, Pending) — Virginia Senate President pro tem Louise Lucas, two of her daughters, a grandson and three associates were indicted Oct 14, 2026. The case was made public Oct 22, 12 days before the midterms. Lucas was released on her own recognizance, without bail.⁹³
• Floris and Benavides (false-statement complaint, Blocked) — Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui threw out the complaint against the two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials on Nov 2, 2026, finding no probable cause. DOJ said it was “evaluating all options,” including an indictment.¹³⁰
• Six Democratic lawmakers and Cassidy Hutchinson (grand-jury presentations, Concluded) — grand juries refused to indict the lawmakers on Feb 10, 2026 and Hutchinson on Oct 27, 2026. A refusal does not bar a new try.¹,⁹⁵
• People investigated without charges (investigations, Unresolved) — as of Nov 8, 2026 no charges had been filed against Brennan, Schiff, Omar, Kent, Krebs, Taylor, Newsom or E. Jean Carroll. MSNBC reported on Oct 23, 2025 that Maryland’s U.S. attorney had found the evidence against Schiff was not enough, which Blanche denied. Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar’s Washington home on Oct 12, 2026.²⁶,¹⁸,⁴⁴,¹²⁸,⁵²,⁹²,⁵⁸
• Sen. Mark Kelly (censure and retired-grade reduction, Blocked; classified-disclosure review, Unresolved) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth censured Kelly Jan 5, 2026. Judge Richard Leon stopped both actions Feb 12, finding that the defendants had “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms”. A review announced May 10 remains open.³³,¹²⁷,³⁹
• Minnesota officials (grand-jury subpoenas, Blocked) — Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and three other state and local officials got subpoenas Jan 20, 2026. Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz cancelled the subpoenas Jun 17, 2026.⁹⁶
• Former intelligence officials and private lawyers (security clearances revoked or suspended, In force) — Brennan and 50 other former officials lost their clearances Jan 20, 2025. A Feb 25, 2025 memorandum suspended clearances held by Covington & Burling lawyers who had helped Smith. An Apr 9, 2025 memorandum suspended those held at SentinelOne, after which Krebs resigned from the company.⁸,⁹⁰,¹²
• Mark Zaid (clearance revocation, Blocked) — Judge Amir Ali ordered the clearance restored on Dec 23, 2025, effective Jan 13, 2026. The D.C. Circuit heard the government’s appeal on May 14, 2026.⁶²
• Bolton and Fauci (federal security details withdrawn, In force) — the guards were removed in the week of Jan 20, 2025, Fauci’s on Jan 23. Bolton had been the target of an Iranian plot to kill him.⁹
• Career DOJ prosecutors (firings, In force; Maurene Comey firing, Blocked) — DOJ fired prosecutors who had worked for Smith on Jan 27, 2025 and removed at least a dozen senior career officials in late January. Judge Jesse Furman ruled on Oct 26, 2026 that Maurene Comey’s Jul 16, 2025 firing was unlawful. He ordered her rehired with back pay counted from the firing. DOJ says it will appeal.⁵,⁶,⁴⁵
• Housing-agency oversight staff (firings and removal, In force) — about a dozen Fannie Mae ethics officials were fired Oct 30, 2025. The Wall Street Journal reported that they had been looking into whether Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) staff improperly got Democrats’ mortgage records. Reuters reported Nov 3 that FHFA had removed its acting inspector general.⁴⁶,⁶³
• Democratic members of Congress, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin and House Oversight Committee members (DOJ response to Trump’s Nov 7 directive, Pending) — on Nov 7, 2026 Trump ordered DOJ to “look into” Democrats’ oversight and impeachment pledges, naming only Slotkin. On Nov 8 Blanche said “I would be very worried if I was a member on that committee”. As of Nov 8 no investigation had been announced.¹¹¹,¹¹³

Key players

• Donald Trump — President (2025– ) — signed the Apr 9, 2025 memoranda ordering reviews of Krebs and Taylor, and wrote the Sept 20, 2025 post naming Comey, Schiff and James.¹²,²
• Pam Bondi — Attorney General (to Apr 2, 2026) — led the DOJ that opened the cases. Trump fired her.³⁷
• Todd Blanche — Deputy, then acting, Attorney General — announced the second Comey case.³⁸ On Nov 8, 2026 he said an investigation of Democrats over their oversight statements “could be” opened.¹¹³
• Lindsey Halligan — interim U.S. attorney, E.D. Va. (Sept 22, 2025 – Jan 20, 2026) — got the Comey and James indictments. A court ruled her appointment invalid.²⁸
• Ed Martin — pardon attorney; Weaponization Working Group head (to Feb 2, 2026) — led the Schiff mortgage inquiry with Pulte and helped coordinate the James investigation. CBS says his exact role is unclear.¹⁴,³⁶
• Bill Pulte — FHFA director; acting Director of National Intelligence (from June 2026) — sent the mortgage-fraud referrals.¹⁴,⁴⁰
• Pete Hegseth — Defense Secretary — censured Kelly and started two reviews of him.³³,³⁹
• Cameron Currie — federal judge (ruling Nov 24, 2025) — threw out the Comey and James indictments.²⁸
• Richard Leon — federal judge (ruling Feb 12, 2026) — stopped the actions against Kelly.¹²⁷
• Aileen Cannon — federal judge (order Feb 23, 2026) — permanently barred release of Volume II of Smith’s report.¹⁰⁰
• Patrick Schiltz — federal chief judge (ruling Jun 17, 2026) — cancelled the Minnesota subpoenas.⁹⁶
• Zia Faruqui — magistrate judge (ruling Nov 2, 2026) — threw out the Floris and Benavides complaint.¹³⁰
• Emily Marks — federal judge (ruling Aug 7, 2026) — turned down the SPLC’s request to dismiss its case as vindictive.⁹¹

Chronology

• 2025-01-20 — Brennan and 50 others lose clearances — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — Biden preemptively pardons Milley, Fauci and the January 6 committee — → ledger
• 2025-01-23 — Fauci’s security detail ended; Bolton’s withdrawn that week — → ledger
• 2025-01-27 — Smith-team prosecutors fired; J6 firings ordered — → ledger
• 2025-01 (late) — First purge of DOJ career leadership — → ledger
• 2025-01-29 — Hegseth orders inspector general review of Milley — → ledger
• 2025-02-11 — Bannon urges prosecution of James — → ledger
• 2025-02-25 — Covington lawyers’ clearances suspended — → ledger
• 2025-03-07 — DOJ reassigns OPR head and National Security Division lawyers — → ledger
• 2025-03-07 — Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer fired — → ledger
• 2025-03-16/17 — Biden pardons declared “VOID” — → ledger
• 2025-04-09 — Krebs and Taylor memoranda — → ledger
• 2025-05-15 — FBI CR-15 corruption squad disbanded — → ledger
• 2025-06-04 — Memorandum orders autopen review — → ledger
• 2025-07-15 — Schiff “Mortgage Fraud” post — → ledger
• 2025-07-16 — Maurene Comey fired — → ledger
• 2025-08-02 — OSC Hatch Act probe of Jack Smith — → ledger
• 2025-08 (mid) — Schiff mortgage probe opened — → ledger
• 2025-08-15 — Pulte refers Lisa Cook — → ledger
• 2025-08-19 — Gabbard revokes 37 clearances — → ledger
• 2025-08-22 — FBI searches Bolton’s home — → ledger
• 2025-09-04 — DOJ opens criminal investigation of Lisa Cook — → ledger
• 2025-09-19 — Siebert forced out — → ledger
• 2025-09-20 — “Pam:” post — → ledger
• 2025-09-22 — Halligan installed — → ledger
• 2025-09-25 — Comey indicted — → ledger
• 2025-09-26 — Willis travel records subpoenaed — → ledger
• 2025-09-26 — Fort Pierce “grand conspiracy” grand jury — → ledger
• 2025-10-09 — James indicted — → ledger
• 2025-10-16 — Bolton indicted — → ledger
• 2025-10-17 — Bolton pleads not guilty — → ledger
• 2025-10-23 — Maryland finds Schiff evidence insufficient — → ledger
• 2025-10-28 — House Oversight majority report “The Biden Autopen Presidency” — → ledger
• 2025-10-30 — Fannie Mae ethics officials fired — → ledger
• 2025 (late) — DOJ meets resistance across cases — → ledger
• 2025-11-03 — FHFA acting inspector general removed — → ledger
• 2025-11-07 — “Grand conspiracy” subpoena wave — → ledger
• 2025-11-13 — Pulte refers Swalwell — → ledger
• 2025-11-17 — Fitzpatrick faults Halligan’s grand-jury presentation — → ledger
• 2025-11-18 — “Refuse illegal orders” video — → ledger
• 2025-11-19 — Prosecutors concede full grand jury did not see final Comey indictment — → ledger
• 2025-11-20 — DOJ probes its own Schiff inquiry — → ledger
• 2025-11-20 — “Punishable by DEATH” posts — → ledger
• 2025-11-20 — DOJ says full grand jury did see the Comey indictment — → ledger
• 2025-11-24 — Comey and James indictments dismissed — → ledger
• 2025-11-24 — Pentagon investigates Sen. Kelly — → ledger
• 2025-11-26 — Georgia case against Trump ends — → ledger
• 2025-12-04 — Grand juries refuse to re-indict James — → ledger
• 2025-12-04 — GAO opens investigation of Pulte — → ledger
• 2025-12-17 — Jack Smith deposition — → ledger
• 2025-12-23 — Judge Ali orders Mark Zaid’s clearance restored — → ledger
• 2026-01-05 — Hegseth censures Kelly — → ledger
• 2026-01-08 — Sarcone barred from James probes — → ledger
• 2026-01-18 — DOJ confirms Walz and Frey probe — → ledger
• 2026-01-20 — Halligan resigns — → ledger
• 2026-02-02 — Ed Martin removed from Weaponization Working Group — → ledger
• 2026-02-12 — Judge Leon enjoins actions against Kelly — → ledger
• 2026-02-23 — Cannon bars release of Smith report Volume II — → ledger
• 2026-03-04 — NBC: DOJ shelves autopen probe — → ledger
• 2026-03-17 — Kent resigns over Iran — → ledger
• 2026-03-18 — FBI leak investigation of Kent reported — → ledger
• 2026-03-20 — Swalwell drops Privacy Act suit against Pulte; campaign says DOJ never acted on referral — → ledger
• 2026-04-02 — Bondi fired — → ledger
• 2026-04-15 — Powell probe closed; Fed inspector general finds no crime — → ledger
• 2026-04-21 — SPLC indicted — → ledger
• 2026-04-28 — Second Comey indictment (“86 47”) — → ledger
• 2026-05-06 — FBI searches Sen. Louise Lucas’s office — → ledger
• 2026-05-10 — Second Kelly review — → ledger
• 2026-05-22 — Pulte becomes acting DNI — → ledger
• 2026-05-27 — DOJ probe of E. Jean Carroll — → ledger
• 2026-06-08 — Vance refers Walz and Ellison — → ledger
• 2026-06-15 — Newsom says DOJ is investigating him — → ledger
• 2026-06-18 — Gabbard releases Fauci documents — → ledger
• 2026-06-26 — Bolton pleads guilty — → ledger
• 2026-07-28 — Comey moves to dismiss threat case — → ledger
• 2026-07-29 — Fauci invokes the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times — → ledger
• 2026-08-06 — Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt — → ledger
• 2026-08 (week of 7) — Cook removal effort restarts — → ledger
• 2026-09-14 — Brennan subpoenaed to the Fort Pierce grand jury; still a “target” in Washington — → ledger
• 2026-09-15 — Fourth Circuit hears Comey/James appeal — → ledger
• 2026-09-29 — Smith testifies; diGenova resigned — → ledger
• 2026-10-07 — Memorandum creates Cook “committee of inquiry”; hearing later set Dec 14 — → ledger
• 2026-10-12 — Omar’s home searched — → ledger
• 2026-10-13 — Slotkin calls for investigations of “the people who enabled” Trump — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 — Lucas indictment unsealed — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 — Trump demands Omar resign — → ledger
• 2026-10-23 — Floris and Benavides charged — → ledger
• 2026-10-26 — Third Comey case — → ledger
• 2026-10-26 — Furman: Maurene Comey firing unlawful — → ledger
• 2026-10-27 — Grand jury declines to indict Hutchinson — → ledger
• 2026-10-28 — Pirro asks court to keep Omar search warrant sealed — → ledger
• 2026-10-30 — DOJ seeks 60 months for Bolton — → ledger
• 2026-10-30 — McFadden hears Comey’s request to throw out Espionage Act charge as too late — → ledger
• 2026-11-02 — Faruqui dismisses Floris and Benavides complaint — → ledger
• 2026-11-02 — Beirich asks court to dismiss SPLC charges as politically motivated — → ledger
• 2026-11-06 — Blanche: “Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It’s me” — → ledger
• 2026-11-06 — Quiñones, head of the office running the “grand conspiracy” probe, resigns — → ledger
• 2026-11-07 — Trump orders DOJ to “look into” Democrats’ oversight pledges — → ledger
• 2026-11-07 — Second post: “These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail” — → ledger
• 2026-11-08 — Blanche says an investigation “could be” opened — → ledger
• 2026-11-08 — Trump says an AI-company leader was told to “get ready to go to jail” — → ledger
• 2026-11-09 — Slotkin’s lawyer asks Blanche to rule out an investigation; DOJ does not — → ledger
• 2026-11-09 — Blanche: DOJ “not going to stop working with Congress” — → ledger

Sources