_The writer, an FBI agent for 31 years, retired as resident agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office in 2006. He has a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law.He is the author of “_ _FBI Case Files Michigan: Tales of a G-Man._“ ### **By Greg Stejskal** A new book, “The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice,” chronicles the transformation of the Department of Justice under the Trump administration from an entity that was semi-independent of White House influence to a weapon of revenge wielded by Trump and his minions. In so doing, the Trump administration is abrogating many of the safeguards put in place following Watergate. The author, Devlin Barrett currently writes for the New York Times and has covered federal law enforcement for more than 25 years. He began his career in journalism at the NY Post and has reported for Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. He has been part of four Pulitzer Prize winning teams. I have closely followed the Trump administration’s efforts to control and change the DOJ since the inauguration. But it has been difficult with so much happening. It seems to follow Steve Bannon’s plan to “flood the zone” with information and disinformation making it almost impossible to keep up. Barrett’s book has focused on the changes at the DOJ/FBI and provides a readable first draft of history putting the events and characters in context. Barrett also guides the reader through some of the legal procedures like how federal grand juries operate. Criminal law and procedure can sometimes be esoteric, but he has made it understandable for the layman. Barrett with his long-term reporting of DOJ/FBI, has captured the culture and ethos of the DOJ attorneys and FBI agents. In his “acknowledgments” Barrett wrote: “The people who deserve the deepest thanks for this book would suffer the most for being listed here. Instead of names, I will acknowledge the character of those who gave this work meaning. They are Americans who took the oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” “They are Americans who know that being an officer of the court demands honesty, integrity, and ethical conduct, not only when it is easy but when it is hard.” “They are Americans who disagree on many things, but who share that the way to resolve disputes is not through lies, threats, or self-serving backroom deals.” “Many of those people never considered until 2025, that their oath ‘to bear true faith and allegiance’ to their country might mean risking their livelihoods. Nevertheless, when confronted with difficult moral choices (and some that were not difficult), they made sacrifices to defend principles that protect the American people. Even more than the ‘rule of law’ or ‘norms’ — two concepts that probably don’t poll well or get many clicks — they stood up for basic human decency and common sense. Thank you.” Author Devlin Barrett (NY Times photo) The overarching theme of the book is Trump’s & his acolytes’ efforts to make the DOJ the Department of Revenge – Trump’s means of retribution. But a subplot to this retribution is the efforts to change the investigative and prosecutive priorities of the DOJ/FBI. The priorities have been: protecting national security, i.e., counterterrorism, counter-espionage, cybersecurity; public corruption; white collar crime like sophisticated frauds; organized crime. Investigating and prosecuting these crimes is complicated and generally requires long-term commitment. Trump’s revenge agenda prioritizes prosecuting his perceived enemies and reverses the traditional criminal process of investigating the crime and obtaining evidence proving the crime and identifying those that perpetrated it. The revenge agenda identifies the perceived enemy then seeks to find a crime for which he/she can be prosecuted. Most of what the DOJ/FBI does occurs outside of Washington DC. Every day all over the country, assistant US attorneys and FBI agents are investigating and prosecuting cases that have no direct connection to what’s going on in the Capitol. This is where I spent most of my career in what we referred to as “the field.” But the priorities and culture are determined by the leadership in Washington. In this administration, agents and AUSAs have been fired or forced to resign because they were investigating and prosecuting legitimate cases involving members of the current administration or its supporters. This skews the mission to follow the facts without fear or favor. Now fear and favor are counter-balanced on the scales of justice. Barrett quotes from Maureen Comey’s farewell letter to her Justice Department colleagues after being fired without cause by Trump: “If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.” Maureen Comey is the daughter of James Comey, the former director of the FBI fired by Trump in his first term. She was also the principal prosecutor of Ghislaine Maxwell who was convicted for being a facilitator for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. And now we see what seems to be clear violations of federal law, like blatant corruption and unjustified homicides committed by federal agents, that are not even being investigated, let alone prosecuted. Perhaps the only saving grace which is of little solace is that sycophancy doesn’t equal competence. Most of the prosecutions of Trump’s enemies have failed, not even getting past the grand jury stage. Unfortunately, the incompetence further damages the creditability of the Justice Department and the FBI. Every American should be concerned about the Trump administration’s attack on justice. Devlin Barrett’s book is excellent, but there will need to be a sequel – hopefully with a happy ending. Share on Facebook Tweet

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CHICAGO — It was another hectic news week for Chicago, but the city is now going into the long Memorial Day weekend. See what Block Club reporters captured while covering the city’s neighborhoods. An FBI agent puts up crime scene tape outside the home of Elias Rodriguez on May 22, 2025. Authorities say Rodriguez shot and killed two Israeli Embassy employees outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago Read more: _FBI Raids Albany Park Home Of Elias Rodriguez, Suspect In Israeli Embassy Workers Shooting_ Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) speaks to the press after alderpeople moved to defer and publish the snap curfew ordinance during a City Council meeting on May 20, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoAld. Andre Vasquez Jr. (40th) speaks to the press after alderpeople moved to defer and publish the snap curfew ordinance during a City Council meeting on May 20, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _‘Snap Curfew’ Ordinance, Aimed At Curbing Teen Takeovers, Stalls At City Council_ Dominique Williams poses in front of photos of her late daughter, DeMarie’ Williams, in their South Shore apartment on March 25, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoDeMarie’ Williams’ family gathers for a balloon release March 1, 2025, to mark the six-month anniversary of the 19-year-old’s murder. Credit: Mina Bloom/Block Club Chicago Read more: _As Chicago’s Domestic Violence Crisis Deepens, Victims Suffer In Silence_ Dozens rally in support of rideshare drivers decrying Uber’s “congestion fee” overcharge before a City Council meeting on May 21, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoDozens rally in support of rideshare drivers decrying Uber’s “congestion fee” overcharge before a City Council meeting on May 21, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _After Uber Caught Overcharging Chicago Riders, City And State Push To Regulate Rideshares_ The sanctuary of Greenstone United Methodist Church, 11211 S. St. Lawrence Ave. in Pullman, on May 15, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoPastor Luther Mason poses for a portrait at the Greenstone United Methodist Church, 11211 S. St. Lawrence Ave. in Pullman, on May 15, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Pullman’s Landmark Greenstone Church Awaits City Funding To Repair Bell Tower_ The encampment near the Harmony Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center as seen on May 19, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago Read more: _After City Removes Gompers Park Tents, A New Encampment Pops Up Across The Street_ Murphy’s Bleachers, 3655 N Sheffield Ave. Read more: _Wrigleyville Neighbors Shaken After Shooting Outside Murphy’s Bleachers_ Al Scorch — known for his reviews of Park District bathrooms — poses for a portrait at the Kilbourn Park field house in Irving Park on May 14, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Chicago Public Bathroom Reviews? Comedian’s Commode Takes Go Viral_ Matt McCarthy, creator of literary magazine the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger, stands at the intersection of Milwaukee and Central Park avenues in Avondale on May 14, 2025. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Milwaukee Avenue Is Inspiration For Avondale Resident’s New Magazine_ Tim Jeffries, Scott Lang, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) and Deb Kerr hold up tied ribbons during the reopening ceremony for the Intuit Art Museum, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., in West Town on May 22, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Intuit Art Museum Reopens Friday After $10 Million Revamp_ Michael Nigro holds up the address sign at Augie’s, 1721 W. Wrightwood Ave. in Lincoln Park, amid its renovation and ahead of its reopening, as seen on May 5, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Augie’s, Lincoln Park’s Lost Neighborhood Bar, Making Its Return This Summer_ Supporters, including Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th), hold a press conference before the reintroduction of the just cause eviction ordinance before a City Council meeting on May 21, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _Ordinance Protecting Tenants From ‘Unjust’ Lease Terminations Heads Back To City Council_ Scaffolding wraps around as workers work on 1022 W. 63rd St., where E.G. Woode — a collective of architects, designers and entrepreneurs, plans to open a food hub in the dilapidated building in Englewood, as seen on May 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Read more: _$7.1 Million Englewood Food Hub To Bring Soul Food Diner, Sports Restaurant To Neighborhood_ * * * **Support Local News!** **Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, **an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? **Click here to gift a subscription** , or you can**support Block Club with atax-deductible donation.** **Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:** Listen OnApple PodcastsListen OnGoogle PodcastsListen OnSpotify Block Club Chicago Sues ICE Over Immigration Arrest Records Episode play icon Block Club Chicago Sues ICE Over Immigration Arrest Records Episode play icon ‘Art For Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland’ Honors Indigenous Voices Episode play icon Uber Wrongfully Charged Riders Downtown Congestion Fee For Months Episode play icon The West Side Teen Operating A Hair Salon In Her High School Bathroom Episode play icon The Illegal Junkyard Operating On City Property For A Decade Load More Search Results placeholder Previous Episode Show Episodes List Next Episode Show Podcast Information

In December 2020, as Donald Trump escalated his efforts to overturn his election defeat, Attorney General William Barr gathered federal election and law enforcement officials inside the Justice Department to confront a central claim: had the presidential vote been manipulated? The immediate focus was on Antrim county, Michigan, where Trump allies alleged that voting machines had shifted votes to Joe Biden. But specialists from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, backed by _FBI_ officials, told Barr there had been no fraud. The error was human, not criminal, and a hand count would soon confirm it. Barr then took that conclusion to the White House, knowing it could end his time in office. It did. Yet the significance of the episode, as _ProPublica’s_ special reporting makes clear, went beyond one meeting or one false claim. In 2020, a number of federal officials, including Trump appointees, refused to allow conspiracy theories to become instruments of state power. According to _ProPublica_ , many of those officials are no longer in place. They have been fired, reassigned or replaced, especially across the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. In their place are appointees and allies tied to efforts to challenge the 2020 result, now in positions that could shape how future elections (in particular the upcoming November MidTerms) are investigated, administered, and publicly framed. The question now is not only how the system held in 2020, but who is still prepared to defend it. Read _ProPublica’s_ full investigation and detailed reporting here. ### **GOING FURTHER** * ###### Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections | PROPUBLICA * ###### How Trump’s Plan to Weaponize the Justice Department Is Taking Shape | THE NEW YORK TIMES * ###### The Trump loyalists preparing to take over Washington | THE GUARDIAN * ###### Trump’s plans for a second term include using DOJ for revenge | THE WASHINGTON POST * ###### What a second Trump term would look like | BBC * ###### Trump plans sweeping expansion of presidential power if he wins | REUTERS * ###### Inside the Trump Plan for 2025 | THE NEW YORKER ### [ Europeans TODAY ]

Ah che bello! L’FBI che può seguire senza un mandato gli spostamenti di qualunque automobile in USA. Orwell era un dilettante. Lui diceva che servivano gli schermi… > The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced plans to buy nationwide access to a network of license plate readers, saying it will award contracts to one or more vendors that can offer “near real time” information from cameras across the US. The proposed contract is for the FBI Directorate of Intelligence. Source: _FBI seeks US-wide access to license plate cameras, wants “data in near real time” – Ars Technica_ If you like this post, please consider sharing it.

Die US-Bundespolizei FBI hat offenbar eine Richterin festgenommen, die die Festnahme eines Migranten „behindert“ haben soll. https://orf.at/stories/3391650/ #_Politik #_Ausland #_FBI #_US

Ty Cobb, former White House attorney during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, said he had an immediate reaction upon hearing of the _FBI raid_ on the home of former national security advisor John Bolton. “I went down and locked my door,” Cobb said, speaking with National Public Radio in an _interview published on Monday_. The Friday raid on Bolton’s home was just the latest example of what _critics have characterized_ as a weaponization of the Justice Department against Trump’s political enemies. It was followed by a _direct threat_ from Trump to investigate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who, like Bolton, has become an outspoken critic of the president. Cobb, who has spoken out against Trump since leaving his administration in 2018, said those who have gotten on the president’s bad side had every reason to be fearful. “I think anybody that’s critical of the president has justifiable paranoia at this stage of the game,” Cobb said. “There is certainly retribution involved [in the raid on Bolton’s home], there is certainly an abandonment of traditional norms at the Justice Department in going back and doing this.” Trump’s DOJ has opened multiple criminal investigations targeting individuals who drew the former president’s ire. A criminal probe was _launched_ in May against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, winning a $454 million judgement against the president and his real estate company. A DOJ official and Trump ally has _drawn scrutiny_ for sharing a _threatening social media_ post against James in posting a photo of themself standing outside her New York home. And in July, Trump’s director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard _announced a criminal probe_ into former President Barack Obama, suggesting he may have committed “treason” for pursuing an investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 election. Critics have largely labeled the probe into Obama as _baseless_. Regarding the raid on Bolton’s home, which DOJ officials say related to mishandling of classified documents, Cobb said he didn’t think charges would stick, and characterized the incident not as an investigation into any wrongdoing, but rather, a “campaign of vengeance.” “I’m not sure he will be charged, I differ from others on those who say he’s certain to be indicted,” Cobb said. “That’s the sea change that people are ignoring here; this is no longer a Justice Department with independent thinkers acting ethically," Cobb added. "These people are so totally devoted to Trump and his campaign of vengeance, and they made that clear when they walked into the great hall and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi declared the fealty to the president as opposed to the Constitution, which is actually what their oath is for.”