It’s a moment that feels both deeply personal and profoundly consequential: a former president, now returned to power, standing in the hallowed halls of the Department of Justice. Susan Glasser, a seasoned columnist for The New Yorker and co-host of the "Political Scene" podcast, paints a vivid picture of this scene, one that signals a seismic shift in how power operates in Washington.
Glasser, whose previous roles at Politico and Foreign Policy magazine have given her a front-row seat to the machinations of power, sees this particular moment as a definitive break from the post-Watergate era. "That era is over, very definitively," she explains, referring to the understanding that law enforcement should function independently, not as a tool for personal retribution. The very act of a president personally addressing the Department of Justice, a move rarely seen since President Obama's visit for Attorney General Eric Holder, underscores this point. It’s a declaration, Glasser suggests, that the concept of an independent law enforcement function is being dismantled, replaced by a system designed to carry out the president's personal will.
This isn't just about optics; it's deeply rooted in Donald Trump's own experience. Glasser points out that the very agency he now commands was instrumental in halting his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The defiance of acting attorneys general and the resignation of others who publicly broke with him over the election results were crucial in preventing him from challenging the lawful outcome. For Trump, Glasser notes, this return to power is intensely personal, driven by a desire to control the levers of an agency that, in his view, thwarted him.
His rhetoric, using terms like "lawfare" and "weaponization," is a direct reflection of this personal vendetta. Having been the first convicted felon to be elected president, and now facing federal indictments from the very department he oversees, Trump’s agenda is clear: to erase the record of his prosecutions and seek "revenge and retribution." This isn't limited to top officials; Glasser highlights his explicit intention to purge the Justice Department and the FBI, targeting even career civil servants who were simply doing their jobs.
The argument that Trump has a "mandate" to take charge of the Justice Department, as some might suggest, is met with a firm "absurd" from Glasser. She emphasizes that his election victory, while significant, did not represent an "overwhelming mandate from the country" for such drastic actions, especially not to dismantle a tradition of independent law enforcement. The idea that the nation's justice system should simply serve the "personal whim of its top executive" is, in her view, a dangerous departure from established norms.
As Glasser observes the unfolding events, there's a palpable sense of a nation grappling with fundamental questions about the rule of law and the nature of presidential power. Her analysis, grounded in years of reporting and a keen understanding of political dynamics, offers a clear-eyed perspective on a moment that is reshaping the American landscape.
