Trump administration's weaponization of the DOJ part of an authoritarian pattern
Don Moynihan at Can We Still Govern?:
One trademark of an authoritarian regime is the use of the legal system to target political opponents and forgive friends. This has the effect of undermining our basic conception of the law as a set of rules that is fairly and consistently applied. It also centralizes authority and undermines government capacity. Trump’s call for Federal Reserve member Lisa Cook to resign, under the threat of a DOJ investigation, is a clear example of this type of authoritarianism. The Trump administration has already aggressively weaponized the legal system. He has pardoned the January 6th rioters. His personal defense lawyers now hold the top positions in the DOJ. One of them, Todd Blanche, has provided more favorable treatment for Ghislaine Maxwell in the search for exculpatory information about Trump, and is also alleged to have personally ordered the arrest of the Mayor of Newark.
In the federal government, DOJ officials involved in Trump investigations have been fired. The DOJ has opened mortgage fraud investigations into a prosecutor who has continued to dog Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James, as well as one of his chief critics in Congress, Adam Schiff.
Now it is not just Trump’s opponents who are potential targets. It is anyone who is in his way. Trump has fired career bureaucrats, and the heads of independent agencies, with the acquiescence of the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court explicitly identified one exception to Trump’s purges: The Federal Reserve. But if more members of the Fed resigned, Trump would control the most powerful federal agency not currently under his influence. If he cannot fire them, Trump might be able to force their resignation, assaulting central bank independence via threats and intimidation. Recently, Biden appointee Adriana Kugler resigned from the Federal Reserve, giving Trump the chance to replace her with a critic of Chair Jay Powell. Kugler is a former colleague of mine at Georgetown, and I have no insight into the reason for her unexpected resignation. But I do worry about the pressures existing Fed members are under and how they might play out.
Now a Trump official, Bill Pulte, has called for the DOJ to investigate another Federal Reserve member, Lisa Cook. Again, the proposed crime is mortgage fraud — that she declared residency in two properties, but ultimately rented out one — and the proposed penalty is criminal prosecution.
[...] One reason Cook might be targeted is because she is willing to acknowledge what is becoming increasingly obvious: the economy is slowing. While Trump can fire the head of the BLS for reporting the numbers, he has to look for other ways to force Cook out.
Of course, there are other reasons why Cook may be targeted. Cook was the first Black woman at the Fed. She is a respected economist, but faced an unusual degree of hostility when she was nominated, with conservative voices labeling her unqualified. Tucker Carlson called her “economically illiterate” and “unqualified to teach junior college econ 101.” (You can read Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Romer on why Cook’s work is worthy of her position). The vitriolic attacks included the Chris Rufo accusations of plagiarism that appear to be standard for any prominent Black female academic. The questions about Cook’s qualifications looked bizarre given Trump’s nomination of Stephen Moore for the Federal Reserve, or the potential nomination of Kevin Hassett, individuals who have long given up on basic economic theory in favor of advocacy. Trump’s pick of EJ Antoni to replace a respected economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that being a respected economist is actually something of a disadvantage in Trumpworld.
Tyrant Trump is trying to force Lisa Cook off the Federal Reserve board by scummy means, such as using bogus prosecution tactics.
This is all about driving a Black woman out of her job she is qualified for and also retaliation for accurately stating truths about the declining economy.
See Also:
The Guardian: Trump calls on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign, renewing attack on central bank
Reuters, via HuffPost: Trump Calls On A Federal Reserve Governor To Resign
