Federal investigations seldom begin with an uproar. Internal rules keep fledgling probes on the down low,

lest evidence or reputations be destroyed. Before elections historically, the Justice Department is

especially mum, so as not to influence voters on the basis of mere suspicion.

Not lately, though.

Since the ascension of Attorney General Bill Barr,

and especially in this election campaign,

the Justice Department has been weaponized as a political tool for Donald Trump.

Unproven and unfounded allegations are the warheads, and the delivery system is the

agency's Department of Public Affairs. Former federal prosecutor Ancush Cardori wrote this week in

Slate about the transformation of a historically circumspect Justice Department press office

into a Trump propaganda machine.

I'm Kush. Welcome to on the media.

Thank you for having me.

First of all, before Bill Barr and Trump, and let's say not counting the criminal Nixon administration,

how independent of politics was the Justice Department and the public affairs apparatus?

You know, there is an element of political work as part of every Justice Department at the level of priorities and directional movement of federal law enforcement, right?

So one administration might focus on immigration, another might

focus on white-collar crime. But that really was about it. And the public affairs office served a

fairly mundane role, circulating press releases or making people available to announce an indictment

and the resolution to a criminal case and perhaps also to announce

like a major investigative initiative or the results of a major project.

My historical memory is that when you go to the Justice Department and ask if they're

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