Trump’s Vengeance Tour Is Opening the Door to Something More Terrible

Jurisprudence How to finally plug the holes in our criminal code and stop it. May 01, 20261:27 PM Jim Comey. Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images. Sign up for Executive Dysfunction, a newsletter that highlights one under-the-radar story each week about how Trump is changing the law—or how the law is pushing back. You’ll also receive updates on the latest from Slate’s Jurisprudence team. President Donald Trump’s revenge campaign of criminal prosecutions against his political enemies is showing no signs of stopping. Just this past week brought new indictments against former FBI Director James Comey, who earned the president’s ire for his role in the Russia investigation, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose work fighting hate groups has irked the political right. It is possible these cases will stumble, just like the administration’s past attempts to turn “Lock her up” into a governing philosophy. Judges and grand juries foiled previous efforts to target Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the so-called Seditious Six—Democratic lawmakers who filmed a video urging troops to resist illegal orders. Prosecutors also dropped a probe of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week in the face of Republican political