President has ‘succeeded in completely politicizing’ justice department, experts say, using it to punish his enemies
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DoJ) has increasingly become his administration’s “political wing” with criminal investigations of economic and political foes and an FBI raid of a Georgia election office seeking evidence for Trump’s debunked claim that his 2020 election loss was rigged, say ex-prosecutors.
The shifts at the DoJ have been especially marked since the start of 2026 and the growing politicization of the department – headed by Trump’s loyalist attorney general, Pam Bondi – was symbolized on 19 February , when a large banner with Trump’s picture was unfurled over the door of the DoJ headquarters.
“The president’s scowling face over the door is a constant reminder of all that he has done to dismantle the justice department as the trusted custodian of fair and evenhanded justice,” said Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general in the George HW Bush administration.
The department’s recent investigations targeting the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, and Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz – both of whom Trump has publicly attacked for their policies – demonstrate what ex-prosecutors call the DoJ’s “unrelenting” attacks on the rule of law.
