By presidential edict, President Trump has singled out for criminal prosecution two people who worked in his first administration and spoke out publicly against him.

The first is Chris Krebs, chief of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency from 2018 until Trump fired him on Nov. 17, 2020. Krebs publicly contradicted Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Trump has branded Krebs “a significant bad-faith actor” who poses grave “risks” to the American public.

The second is Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security employee who publicly criticized Trump in an anonymous book and various media appearances. According to Trump, Taylor, like Krebs poses “risks” to the U.S. and is also a “bad-faith actor” (though not a “significant” bad-faith actor like Krebs) who “stoked dissension” with his public commentary.

In a separate set of orders, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to open criminal investigations of Krebs and Taylor. Such investigations are selective and nonsensical.

Once upon a time, we had a Justice Department that acted independently of the president when it came to particular........

© The Hill