To the editor: On Oct. 16, a federal grand jury returned an indictment towards former nationwide safety advisor John Bolton for maintaining some categorised paperwork (“John Bolton pleads not responsible to prices accusing him of sharing categorised data,” Oct. 17). It is a declaration that “irony is useless,” as President Trump was beforehand accused and located to have retained categorised paperwork at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
The president, in what was reportedly a direct message to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi that was posted publicly by chance, pressured her to go after FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James. Let’s be clear: The president of the US is placing a heavy hand on the scales of justice to vindictively search to punish his enemies, and Bolton is simply the most recent.
Trump’s rhetoric and conduct fall clearly outdoors the official province of a democracy and extra squarely into the realm of an autocracy. He has now utterly weaponized the Division of Justice in a way far past another president in U.S. historical past.
People, we’re in uncharted waters, and the judicial tsunami unleashed by the president towards Bolton and different perceived enemies might find yourself sinking our democracy.
Ken Derow, Swarthmore, Pa.