Attorney General Bonta Raises Alarm Bells on Abuse of U.S. DOJ’s Prosecutorial Power in Wake of Comey Indictment

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing grave concern with the alarming trend of the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ) wielding its prosecutorial power for the improper purpose of political retribution following the apparently politically-influenced indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. In the letter, Attorney General Bonta states:

As the Chief Law Officer of the State of California, I write today to express my grave concern about the apparently politically-influenced indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. As you know, the tremendous discretion we prosecutors have comes with great responsibility: prosecutors must wield that power in a fair and just manner driven by the facts and law—without fear or favor. In the immortal warning of former United States Attorney General Robert H. Jackson, a prosecutor’s most dangerous power is the power to “pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted.”

Rather than being driven by the neutral application of law to the facts, yesterday’s indictment of Director Comey appears to have been driven by political retribution. Public commentary regarding the indictment by members of the federal Administration, including the President, indicates that a motivating factor of the prosecution was to intimidate a perceived enemy of the President. If this is the case, it would be a clear abuse of prosecutorial power. I, along with numerous prosecutors around the country, am deeply troubled by the implications of the Administration’s continued efforts to criminalize people who disagree with the Administration’s policies. 

The weaponization of prosecutorial power and other levers of government to suppress the expression of dissent, either directly or through implication, is chilling. The indictment of former Director Comey is an alarming escalation of a broader trend by this Administration to use and abuse executive power. Other recent examples include the targeting of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and the weaponization of the Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Brendan Carr, to target entertainers and newscasters. And it goes against what you yourself promised during your Senate confirmation hearing when you told Senator Peter Welch, “No one will be prosecuted [or] investigated because they are a political opponent ... No one should be prosecuted for political purposes. Absolutely not.”

Seeking to intimidate critics and retaliate against former government officials goes against the very core of America’s democratic values. The endurance of our country as a democracy depends on the vibrant exchange of opinions and criticism, paired with trust in our criminal justice system. To wield the immense power of the U.S. Department of Justice to seek to silence or punish those who are viewed as opponents of the President dangerously undermines that trust.  

I am inspired by the numerous former employees of your department who, when faced with the choice of pursuing the President’s petty and politically-motivated agenda, have instead resigned. They have sacrificed their dedicated careers, but preserved their integrity in defense of the principles for which your department has always stood.  

This is the moment for you to hold firm to your own Congressional testimony, and reassert the long-standing independence of the U.S. Department of Justice from political interference by declining to continue these politically-motivated investigations and prosecutions. Instead, as Chief Law Officers, we should join together to focus on the things the public depends on us to achieve: securing public safety and pursuing prosecutions that advance equal justice under the law.  

As California's top lawyer and law enforcement official, Attorney General Bonta has continued to defend against the Trump Administration’s assault on the rule of law and abuse of power. On Monday, Attorney General Bonta called on Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr to stop his campaign of censorship after his intimidation of television broadcasters led to Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show being pulled off the air. 

Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta, along with 20 other state attorneys general, issued an open letter urging the legal community to stand together in defense of the rule of law in response to President Trump’s calls for the impeachment of federal judges and threats of retribution against law firms. He has stood with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie in amicus briefs in support of their lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms that represent clients or positions it disagrees with. And he issued a separate statement on the need to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system is undermined, and our laws are broken.  

A copy of the letter is available here.