“This is a storied hall, if there ever was one.”
That is how President Donald Trump opened his remarks to the United States Department of Justice, before he launched into a speech that denounced judges, prosecutors, and members of his predecessor’s government as corrupt, Al Jazeera reported.
It was an extraordinary moment that hinted at potential legal action against political rivals.
Trump went on to argue that the 2024 election had granted him a mandate to investigate those he felt had committed “abuses” under the presidency of former President Joe Biden.
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“I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred,” Trump said. "The American people have given us a mandate, and really, just a far-reaching investigation is what they are demanding into the corruption of our system.”
Critics have long feared that Trump would seek retribution against his political rivals if he returned to power, Al Jazeera said in its reports.
While on the campaign trail in 2024, he repeatedly referred to Democrats as “the enemy from within," calling them “evil” and more dangerous than the threats posed by China and Russia. He also threatened critics, like Republican Liz Cheney, with jail and said he would appoint a special prosecutor to go after Biden.
But Friday’s speech to the Justice Department was a platform for Trump to renew those threats—and continue to spread false claims that cast doubt on his defeat to Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
“I think it was the most humiliating time in the history of our country,” Trump said of Biden’s term. “What a difference a rigged and crooked election had on our country. When you think about it, the people who did this to us should go to jail. They should go to jail.”
Trump even aimed at prosecutors who worked in the Justice Department, particularly those who participated in criminal investigations against him, the Doha-based media reported.
Since taking office for a second term on January 20, the president has led a campaign against what he considers “Biden bureaucrats," though critics point out that many are nonpartisan civil service members.
Among the thousands of federal employees terminated in the last two months were career prosecutors who participated in the two federal probes into Trump’s behaviour: one for alleged mishandling of classified documents, and the other for attempting to subvert the 2020 election.
Both cases were ultimately dropped after Trump won re-election on November 5. The Justice Department has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
But while career prosecutors are tasked with serving whichever president is in office, Trump has sought to ensure their removal, according to Al Jazeera.
