Who Has Donald Trump Threatened To Prosecute?

TAMPA, FL (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to investigate or prosecute political rivals, former intelligence officials, the country’s former military chief, prosecutors, tech moguls, and left-wing Americans if he becomes president again.

Here is a list of some of his potential targets:

Political Foes

Trump has called for investigations into Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Liz Cheney, a former U.S. representative who is one of the most high-profile Republicans to turn against Trump.

At a September rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said Harris was responsible for the “biggest crime story of our time,” referring to illegal border crossings, which occurred under both his first administration and the Biden administration. “She should be impeached and prosecuted for her actions,” Trump said.

Trump has also shared posts calling for military tribunals to try Cheney and Obama.   

During his first White House bid in 2016, Trump regularly called for opponent Democrat Hillary Clinton to be prosecuted. He said in an October radio interview that once he won office, he made sure she was not prosecuted, because “it would look terrible.”      

Intelligence Officials

Trump harbors anger at former intelligence officials who were involved in the investigation into alleged ties between his first presidential campaign and Russia. A 2019 report did not establish that members of Trump’s 2016 campaign team conspired with Russia to interfere in that year’s presidential election.

Trump still rails against what he calls the Russia “hoax” and has called former senior intelligence officials who were involved in the investigation “corrupt.”

They include John Brennan, the former CIA director, and James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence. Trump reposted an image on his Truth Social platform in January 2023 showing Brennan, Clapper and others behind bars, under a headline: ‘Now that Russia collusion is a proven lie, when do trials for treason begin?’

Another target of Trump’s anger over the Russia investigation is Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s former deputy director. In June, Trump posted quotes by his former White House adviser Steve Bannon about McCabe, that if Trump reenters the White House, McCabe should be worried about being targeted.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat and the former chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, frequently claimed during Trump’s first term that his campaign had colluded with Russia. Trump loathes Schiff and often decried him in campaign speeches this year. In January 2023 Trump wrote: “Schiff is a sleazebag and traitor and should be prosecuted for the damage he has done to our Country!”

Schiff won election to the U.S. Senate this month.

Mark Milley

Trump has said retired U.S. Army General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be tried for treason. He even suggested in 2023 that Milley should be executed after it emerged in the waning, chaotic days of Trump’s first term that Milley had held two back-channel calls with China’s top general to reassure them that Trump was not planning to attack China.

Techies

Trump has also warned Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google over what he claims is potential election interference on their tech platforms.

Trump has accused Meta of suppressing content that would have hurt Biden in the 2020 election and has also criticized Zuckerberg’s donations to bolster election infrastructure.

“We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison,” Trump wrote in his recently published “Save America” coffee table book, according to media reviews of the book.

Zuckerberg has not responded publicly to Trump’s threat, but did say Trump’s reaction to the July 13 assassination attempt was “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Trump has also threatened to instruct the Department of Justice to criminally investigate Google for “only revealing and displaying bad stories about Donald J. Trump,” according to a post in September.

“I will request their prosecution, at the maximum levels, when I win the Election,” Trump wrote. He provided no evidence for his assertion about Google.

Google has not responded to requests for comments about Trump’s statement.

Prosecutors

Trump and his allies have called for prosecuting, firing or jailing prosecutors who defy him or have investigated him.

In an April interview with Time, Trump said that if U.S. attorneys refused orders to prosecute someone, he would be open to firing them. “It would depend on the situation,” Trump said.

Trump has also said that if elected, he would fire Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor leading the criminal probes into his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

That follows an April 2023 speech by Trump – after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg convinced a New York grand jury to bring the first criminal charges ever against a former U.S. president, in which he said Bragg was “the criminal.”

“He should be prosecuted or at a minimum he should resign,” Trump said. Trump’s ally, Steve Bannon, an influential voice in Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, has said Bragg should be jailed.

Letitia James

Trump has called for the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and his real estate business for committing fraud. Trump was ordered by Justice Arthur Engoron to pay $454 million in penalties in that case. Trump said in a Truth Social post in November 2023 that James and Engoron “should be sanctioned and prosecuted over this complete and very obvious MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!!!”    

Protestors

Following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the U.S. this year, Trump told Fox News in July that anyone who desecrates the American flag should get a one-year jail sentence.

“Now, people will say: ‘Oh it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people who say that” Trump said, adding that he wants to work with Congress to allow the jail sentences.

Trump has also said he would arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism, an apparent reference to the college student protesters.