Welcome to a special episode of Talking Feds.

As long time, listeners know, this podcast began with a special focus on federal criminal law enforcement,

and from our very first days, we have taped special episodes on the

Department of Justice every few months.

We weren't planning to do another DOJ report card episode this week, but then the department

undertook a flurry of actions, each of which is a corrupt gift rat present to Donald Trump and his bottomless

thirst for retribution against his perceived enemies. Just in the past week, news broke that DOJ

officials were putting together a grand jury to hear evidence against the Obama administration,

and were going after Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud. And we're subpoenaing James's office

with a possible eye toward charging her for, get this, violating Trump's civil rights by beating him in court. The wheels are now completely

off at the DOJ. As an investigative agency, it has become indistinguishable from the Ministry of

Justice of the Russian Federation or the Office of the Prosecutor General in Hungary, both undisguised

hit squads for their presidents. We can now only wonder whether the department will follow through

with a series of bogus prosecutions of former government and political officials, the likes of which have never been seen in the United States.

And the department's full embrace of its role as Trump's Avengers has implications for other political battles,

including the response to the new congressional subpoena to the Department for Jeffrey Epstein Records.

To try to make sense of a Department of Justice that daily seems to be undertaking more

dramatic transgressions from its lawful and traditional role, and to be transforming itself

into the nation's largest law firm dedicated to the political fortunes of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

We're really pleased to welcome three of the most knowledgeable commentators on the department in the country,

two of whom I'm really pleased to say are first-time guests on Talking Feds.

And they are.

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