The New York Times, NO. 2
An
authoritarian persecutes political opponents. Trump has.
In
addition to restricting speech and dissent, autocrats use the immense power of
law enforcement to investigate and imprison people who have fallen out of
favor. Mr. Trump’s Justice Department has become an enforcer of his personal
interests, targeting people for legally dubious reasons while creating a
culture in which his allies can act with impunity.
Following
the president’s demands, his appointees have secured indictments of a few
critics (including Attorney General Letitia James of New York and the former
F.B.I. director James Comey) and ordered investigations of
others (including Senator Adam Schiff of California). Some of these appointees
were once Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers. Mr. Trump has also used executive
orders to go after perceived enemies, including law firms representing his critics. And
he has systematically fired government employees who played roles in earlier
investigations of him or his allies.
“We are
all afraid,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican, said this spring. “It’s quite a statement. But we
are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. I’ll
tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because
retaliation is real.”
Mr. Trump
has simultaneously shielded his own supporters from legal consequences for
their actions, including through his blanket pardon of the Jan. 6 rioters.
The Bottom
Line
True authoritarians go much further than Mr. Trump has, but he has already
targeted his opponents with legal persecution in shocking ways.
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