E. Jean Carroll leaves a New York courthouse in 2024 during an appeal of a jury’s finding that Donald Trump sexually abused her. News reports say the Justice Department is now investigating whether Carroll lied during civil litigation against Trump.

On an almost daily basis, we are seeing the failure of the Constitution to provide adequate checks against a president determined to use the enormous powers of his office for the sake of retribution. The revelation that the Department of Justice is criminally investigating E. Jean Carroll, who twice successfully sued Donald Trump, is just the latest abuse of power. No president in history has ever sought retribution like this, and the serious problem is that there are no good ways to stop it.

What is stunning is that President Trump has been so open about his desire to use the powers of his office to reward his supporters and punish his perceived enemies. Upon taking office, Trump pardoned those who had been convicted of the Jan. 6 insurrection. He then fired those who did their jobs by prosecuting the cases. Last week, the Justice Department said it was creating an almost $1.8 billion fund as part of the settlement of a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS; the money would ostensibly go to those whom the president feels were unfairly treated by the Biden administration. The Justice Department and Trump have no legal authority to do this, but it is questionable whether anyone has standing to go to court to stop it.

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