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By Caitlin Yilek, Kathryn Watson
/ CBS News
President Trump delivered a rambling campaign-style speech at the Justice Department on Friday to lay out his vision for the department, in which he aired his grievances over the federal investigations into him and vowed retribution against his political foes.
Mr. Trump referred to a “corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government” who he said had “obliterated” trust and goodwill over generations, but promised “those days are over” and are “never coming back.” Opening his remarks, he said the Justice Department is starting a “proud new chapter in the chronicles of American justice.”
“We’re turning the page on four long years of corruption, weaponization and surrender to violent criminals,” Mr. Trump claimed. “And we’re restoring fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.”
Mr. Trump has been a regular critic of the Justice Department for years, even before special counsel Jack Smith indicted him in two criminal cases after he left office. The president praised one of the judges in those cases during his remarks. Mr. Trump said federal judge Aileen Cannon, who he appointed during his first term and who ultimately dismissed the classified documents case against him, as “the absolute model of what a judge should be.”
In January, about a dozen Justice Department employees who worked for Smith on the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Trump were fired. The federal prosecutors were informed of the decision to terminate their positions by email after department leadership determined they were unable to carry out Mr. Trump’s agenda.
Earlier this month, the president moved to suspend the security clearances of attorneys at Perkins Coie, a law firm linked to Democratic-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into any ties between Mr. Trump and Russia. Mr. Trump’s order also instructs agency heads to restrict access to government buildings by the firm’s attorneys “when such access would threaten the national security of or otherwise be inconsistent with the interests of the United States” and to identify, and cancel, contracts they have with the firm.
His appearance at the department was notable given that no president has appeared there in a decade. In 2015, President Barack Obama made the last known public appearance by a sitting U.S. president at the Justice Department, when he paid tribute to departing attorney general Eric Holder. Before that, President George W. Bush in 2001 visited the department in order to formally change the name of the building to honor Robert F. Kennedy, who served as attorney general under the administration of his brother, President John F. Kennedy.
The Justice Department, in order to protect its independence and integrity in law enforcement decisions, traditionally doesn’t advise the White House about pending or possible criminal or civil investigations or cases, unless it’s important to the president’s duties, according to the Justice Manual.
Mr. Trump also spoke of his vision for Washington as a capital that is “the talk of the world,” then trailed off about men’s college basketball coach Bobby Knight, inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war and the 2020 election. He rounded out his lengthy remarks by putting drug cartels on notice and acknowledging family members of Americans who died from fentanyl.
The president was introduced by Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel was also in attendance.
Ahead of the president’s remarks, some Democrats criticized Mr. Trump and alleged he has broken the law since he took office.
“President Trump began breaking the law on day one of his term, and immediately pardoned hundreds of violent criminals upon taking office,” said House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat. “The Trump administration is breaking the law and undermining the Constitution every day by illegally stealing funds for the programs that help American families and businesses, firing career civil servants without cause, and dismantling agencies created by acts of Congress.”
“Restoring law and order starts with respecting the Rule of Law itself and the sacredness of our Constitution,” Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York said in a statement. “This administration has failed to do so since day one.”
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
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