How the Trump Justice Department is targeting his perceived opponents
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.1 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
Under the Trump administration, federal prosecutors have been sent to investigate federal lawmakers, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the widow of Renee Macklin Good.
The Department of Justice is once again at the center of the news.
At least five federal lawmakers say they have been contacted for questioning from federal prosecutors. So has the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
And in Minnesota, career federal prosecutors resigned after being asked to investigate not the shooting that killed Renee Macklin Good, but her widow’s potential ties to activist groups.
NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro and NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson break down the week in Justice Department news.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On the campaign trail, here is what President Trump promised. |
| 0:04.5 | And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution. |
| 0:11.3 | In his first year back in office, President Trump has pulled many different levers of government |
| 0:16.0 | to pursue revenge against those he sees as having wronged or betrayed him. |
| 0:21.0 | We have a stupid person, frankly, at the Fed. |
| 0:24.1 | There he is referring to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. |
| 0:27.2 | The U.S. attorney in Washington is investigating Powell over building renovations that are running over budget. |
| 0:34.5 | Well, here's how Powell responded on Sunday. |
| 0:36.7 | The threat of criminal charges is a consequence |
| 0:39.1 | of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the |
| 0:44.7 | public, rather than following the preferences of the president. This was also the week where several |
| 0:50.3 | Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned. The DOJ had pushed them to investigate not the |
| 0:56.2 | killing of Renee Maclin Good, but instead the woman who is now her widow for her ties to |
| 1:02.0 | activist groups. And then another headline tied to the Justice Department this week, |
| 1:06.8 | five sitting Democratic lawmakers said that federal prosecutors recently contacted them for questioning. |
| 1:13.5 | Last year, they had all made a statement on video urging members of the military to refuse illegal orders. |
| 1:20.0 | One of those lawmakers was Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin. |
| 1:23.4 | I think it's meant to get you to shut up. |
| 1:25.3 | Senator Slotkin spoke to my colleague, Juana Summers, on Thursday. |
| 1:28.7 | She said the U.S. attorneys did not say if they were investigating a crime. |
| 1:33.1 | Just the mere fact that they've initiated this, |
| 1:36.3 | that you have to get a lawyer, you have to come up with a strategy, |
... |
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