Portrait of Former FBI Director James Comey on April 13, 2018 in Washington, DC, USA.

WASHINGTON – For one brief moment, Donald Trump tried to assuage concerns that he would use the Justice Department to exact revenge on his political adversaries if voters sent him back to the White House.

“We’re going to make this country so successful again, I’m not going to have time for retribution,” he said at a Fox News town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, during last year’s presidential campaign.

But since returning to office in January, Trump has found plenty of time to direct law enforcement agencies to pursue those who have criticized or clashed with him.

Exhibit A: Former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired just five months into his first term as president, walked into a federal courtroom in Virginia on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and pleaded not guilty to charges he had lied to Congress. The federal indictment against Comey came less than a week after Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute him. U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned under pressure after he concluded there wasn't enough evidence to support an indictment. Trump said Siebert didn't quit – he fired him.

Exhibit B: Federal agents on Aug. 22 raided the Bethesda, Maryland, home of John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term but later became one of Trump’s most prominent Republican critics. Bolton is reportedly under investigation for mishandling classified documents.

Exhibit C: New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and the Trump Organization in 2022 alleging they had engaged in fraudulent business practices, is under investigation by the Trump Justice Department on allegations of mortgage fraud. Trump has publicly called for her prosecution and removal from office.

Exhibit D: Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was the lead prosecutor during Trump’s first impeachment trial, is under investigation by the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage fraud. Trump demanded in a social media post on July 15 that Schiff “be brought to justice.” Bondi scolded Schiff during a Senate hearing Oct. 7 and said he should apologize for impeaching Trump.

And on and on it goes, with numerous career prosecutors and others fired from the Justice Department – many of them involved in previous investigations into Trump.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Sept. 22 that Trump was merely fulfilling his promise to restore a Justice Department “that demands accountability,” not weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his political opponents.

But other than his momentary disavowal on the town hall stage in Des Moines, Trump has been telegraphing for months his intentions to strike back at his critics or those he believes have done him wrong, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris (his Democratic opponent in the 2024 election) and former special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led federal criminal investigations into Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters and his retention of classified documents after leaving office.

Smith is now under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel, which is looking into allegations that he engaged in political activity through his inquiries into Trump. The Justice Department has fired several lawyers who worked with him on the prosecution of Trump. Comey's daughter, Maurene Comey, who as a prosecutor in New York worked on cases against Jeffrey Epstein and others, also was fired.

Aside from the visceral thrill of seeing his enemies squirm, Trump clearly thinks there are other benefits to his payback campaign.

His quest for revenge plays with well with his political supporters, who believe he was wrongly targeted by the Biden administration and other Democrats, resulting in his 2024 conviction by a New York jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

At times, it also serves as a temporary distraction from other problems at home and abroad, including an economy that’s showing signs of cooling, ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, a government shutdown that is now in its eighth day, and public resistance to Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops into several Democratic-led cities to crackdown on crime.

But there are risks for Trump as well.

Trump’s critics denounce his actions as a gross misuse of the justice system, one that opens the door for future presidents to sic the power of federal law enforcement on their own perceived enemies.

Trump and his supporters argue it was Biden who opened that door with multiple investigations into him. Trump was indicted four times on various charges after leaving office, but only two of the cases against him were brought by the federal government. The others were filed by district attorneys in New York and Georgia.

Biden stayed mostly silent and did not comment publicly on the investigations into Trump, while Trump has openly called for the prosecution of his adversaries and even publicly pressured government attorneys to bring charges against them.

Will Trump's revenge tour survive in court?

It may be the courts that ultimately decide whether Trump’s vendetta is successful.

Constitutional law experts warn the case against Comey could face legal challenges and possibly even be dismissed because of questions about the appointment of the prosecutor who obtained the indictment.

Lindsey Halligan, who served as White House special assistant to the president, was installed as the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after Siebert, her predecessor, either stepped down or was fired. Halligan, who had no background as a prosecutor, secured the Comey indictment despite internal concerns about the strength of the case.

Dismissal of the case would be seen as a rebuke of Trump, who has harbored a grudge against Comey ever since Comey led an investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.

But even if the Comey case is thrown out, what would be the political fallout for Trump? Trump is barred by the constitution for running for a third term.

It seems unlikely that a dismissal of the Comey case would deter Trump from seeking revenge against others in his crosshairs.

So who’s next on his hit list?

Trump seemed to drop a hint shortly before Comey’s courthouse appearance and not guilty plea.

Taking to social media early on Oct. 8, Trump called for the arrest of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, who he said have failed to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel as hundreds of National Guard troops were poised to enter the city as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration.

“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote.

Pritzker quickly fired back.

“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power,” he wrote on X. “What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"

Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump settles old scores with James Comey, others on his hit list. Who's next?

Reporting by Michael Collins, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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