John,
Trump’s Department of Justice is no longer defending the law. It’s targeting the enemies he perceives in the free press.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has made the DOJ’s new mission chillingly clear: not to uphold the law, but to enforce Donald Trump’s personal agenda.
Bondi recently announced that the DOJ would begin using subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to force journalists to reveal their sources -- or face jail time, because, she says, the DOJ, will “not tolerate disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies.”
This is not in keeping with the tradition of the DOJ, and this is not law enforcement. This is outright retaliation and intimidation. The DOJ, which was once independent, is now being weaponized to crush dissent and intimidate the press. Trump’s priorities are now DOJ policy. His enemies are now DOJ targets.
This is how democracy dies: when the institutions designed by our Constitution to serve the people are hijacked to serve the interests of just one man, who is not content with being dictator just on “Day 1.”
For years, Trump has demonized the press as the “enemy of the people.” Now, under Bondi’s leadership, with input from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, what was once simply inflammatory rhetoric has now become law enforcement strategy. No longer just bluster, it’s now official federal policy.
Send a direct message to Congress: Tell them to stop Attorney General Pam Bondi from targeting reporters with subpoenas and search warrants, and to protect Freedom of the Press now.
Unfortunately, these developments are consistent with Trump’s history. During his first term, his DOJ secretly seized reporters' phone records from The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times. Since returning to office, he’s vowed “retribution” against the media and launched multi-million-dollar lawsuits against major networks like ABC and CBS.
Now, with Bondi at the helm, the DOJ has abandoned even the pretense of neutrality.
We must stop this now, before it is normalized. This is about more than protecting journalists: it’s about defending the foundation of democracy itself. When the DOJ becomes a political weapon, literally no one is safe.
Last year, the PRESS Act had strong bipartisan support, and even passed in the House. It would protect journalists and prevent future administrations from using prosecutorial tools to silence the media. Now Congress must finish the job it started and take action to stop Attorney General Bondi from targeting reporters.
Congress must act now to restore the independence of the Department of Justice. If we don’t draw the line here, we may soon find there are no lines left to draw.
Tell Congress to rein in the DOJ and stop the assault on the free press now.
Thank you for standing up for democracy -- and for the First Amendment.
- DFA AF Team
