The administration says these actions are "driven by law and not by politics."
The Justice Department's second attempt to indict former FBI Director James Comey is the latest salvo in what critics call a campaign of retribution on the part of the Trump administration since Donald Trump returned to the presidency in 2025.
Administration officials have insisted that any such actions are, as Vice President JD Vance said, "driven by law and not by politics" -- yet they come after Trump vowed during his presidential campaign that he would seek retribution if reelected.
The moves follow months of the administration vowing investigations into perceived enemies, stripping individuals of security clearances, and removing protective details.
During a speech at the Justice Department shortly after he took office for his second term, Trump described himself as the country's "chief law enforcement officer" and vowed to root out what he alleged was widespread government corruption.
"As the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred," Trump said in March 2025. "We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct of which was levels you've never seen anything like it. It's going to be legendary."
Here's a look at some of the actions that the president's critics have experienced, which many of them perceive as retribution.
CONVICTED
John Bolton, former national security adviser
Bolton, in June, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal retention of national security information following an indictment that he alleged was politically motivated.
After he was indicted in October 2025, Bolton issued a lengthy statement defending his actions and arguing his indictment was part of a pattern of "Donald Trump's retribution" against him since leaving Trump's first administration and publishing a tell-all book.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Maryland, charged Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors had accused Bolton of using a non-government personal email account and messaging application to transmit to two unauthorized family members at least eight documents that contained information classified at levels ranging from "Secret" to "Top Secret."
By June, Bolton reached a deal with prosecutors that required him to plead guilty to one count of illegal retention of national security information and pay a $2.25 million fine. His sentencing is scheduled for October, and he faces up to five years in prison.
Unlike some of the other cases against Trump's political opponents, the Bolton case was investigated by career prosecutors and began before Trump took office. During his plea hearing, Bolton admitted his guilt and apologized for his actions.
INDICTED
James Comey, former FBI Director
Comey was indicted in North Carolina on April 28 over a controversial Instagram post from last year that prosecutors say was a threat against the president. Comey, in a since-deleted Instagram post, shared a picture showing the numbers "86 47" -- interpreted to mean "get rid of" Trump -- written in seashells on the beach, with the caption, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."
The former FBI director was previously indicted in September 2025 on since-dismissed charges of making a false statement and obstruction related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, just days after Trump issued a public demand for his Justice Department to act "now" to bring prosecutions against Comey and other political foes. Comey pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
The failed prosecution followed Trump's ousting of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, who according to sources had expressed doubts internally about bringing cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after Trump appointed him to lead the office.
Trump then immediately moved to install Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and his former defense attorney, to lead the office, despite her having no prior prosecutorial experience. Halligan quickly sought an indictment from the grand jury, despite career prosecutors in her office informing her that they could not establish probable cause to charge Comey, ABC News first reported.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie subsequently dismissed the criminal case against Comey on the grounds that Halligan's appointment was invalid. Comey's lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing it was vindictive and selective, but the judge did not rule on the motion before Judge Currie tossed the case.
Comey's North Carolina trial is tentatively scheduled to begin in October. Comey's attorneys say they plan to file multiple motions to dismiss the indictment on "constitutional grounds."
Letitia James, New York attorney general
James was indicted in October 2025 on since-dismissed charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution after Halligan presented allegations to a federal grand jury that James had committed mortgage fraud related to a home she purchased in 2020. James pleaded not guilty at her arraignment.
James, who in 2022 brought a $454 million civil fraud case against Trump, has been labeled, without evidence, a "corrupt attorney general" by Trump, whose ousting of Siebert came after sources say Siebert declined to bring a criminal case against James following a five-month investigation.
According to the indictment, James falsely described a property she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, as a second home instead of an investment property in order to obtain a lower mortgage rate. James said she purchased the property for her great-niece and allowed her and her children to live in the house rent-free.
Along with the Comey case, Judge Currie dismissed the case against James on the grounds that Halligan's appointment was invalid.
James was also issued subpoenas last year inquiring about her civil fraud case against Trump and a corruption case she filed against the National Rifle Association, multiple sources told ABC News. A federal judge in New York threw out the subpoenas in January and disqualified the U.S. attorney investigating the case on the grounds that he was unlawfully appointed.
INDICTMENTS SOUGHT
6 members of Congress: Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan
The U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., in February sought but failed to secure an indictment against six Democratic members of Congress, according to sources, after Trump accused them of "seditious behavior" that could be "punishable by death" for releasing a video in which they said that U.S. service members could refuse illegal orders.
Amid concerns about the legality of deadly strikes on alleged drug boats in Latin America as well as the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, Sen. Mark Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Rep. Maggie Goodlander, Rep. Jason Crow, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, and Rep. Chris DeLuzio, all former members of the military and intelligence community, posted a video telling current members that -- per the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- they should refuse to carry out unlawful orders.
"Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL," Trump posted to social media on Nov. 20.
Prosecutors under U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro sought to convince a grand jury to indict the six lawmakers, but the panel did not comply. It is exceedingly rare for a grand jury to not indict after prosecutors have made their presentation.
The Department of Defense also said on Nov. 14 it was launching a "thorough review" of Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain and the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, for his role in the video, in which Kelly and his colleagues told service members, "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal ordered. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution."
In January, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth censured Kelly, an administrative action that will result in a reduction in his rank and retirement pay.
A federal judge in February blocked the attempt to punish Kelly -- including demoting him and reducing his retirement pay -- after concluding the disciplinary action violated his freedom of speech.
INVESTIGATED
Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve chair
Following the Trump administration's increasingly aggressive push to pressure the independent Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, federal prosecutors in January launched a criminal investigation into Powell related to his 2025 congressional testimony regarding the multi-year renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.
In a video message released by the Fed, Powell said it was clear to him that the probe is ultimately part of the Trump administration's pressure campaign on the Fed, which helps shape the nation's monetary policy.
"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions -- or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," Powell said.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "The Attorney General has instructed her U.S. Attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuse of taxpayer dollars."
Trump denied any involvement in the criminal investigation during a brief interview with NBC News following Powell's statement.
"I don't know anything about it, but he's certainly not very good at the Fed, and he's not very good at building buildings," Trump said.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in March threw out a series of subpoenas to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors after determining the government "produced essentially zero evidence" to support a criminal investigation -- writing in his opinion that "there is abundant evidence that the subpoenas' dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will."
The Department of Justice in April dropped its criminal investigation into Powell, ending a standoff that threatened to delay the confirmation of Powell's successor at the central bank. Senior DOJ officials told senators that they would instead refer the matter to the Fed's internal watchdog, sources told ABC News.
Lisa Cook, Federal Reserve governor
Trump last year said he was firing Cook, a member of the seven-person Federal Reserve board of governors, over allegations raised by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she committed mortgage fraud by improperly designating both her homes in Georgia and Michigan as her primary residence.
Trump had been urging the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates in an effort to boost the economy, and replacing Cook on the board would give Trump's appointees the majority. No president had ever attempted to remove a Fed governor in the Fed's 112-year history.
In a statement, Cook -- who has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing -- said that she would continue to serve in her role as a Fed governor, and she subsequently filed suit against Trump over his move to fire her.
A federal judge blocked the attempt to fire Cook, and the Supreme Court in June affirmed that decision. In a 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court's majority, upheld limits Congress imposed on a president's attempt to remove members of the Fed as a legitimate protection of the institution's historical independence.
The outcome left the door open for the possibility that Trump could continue to try to press his case. Following the ruling, Pulte -- who is serving as the acting director of national intelligence -- posted to X, "As I have repeatedly said, I believe Lisa Cook will be indicted for mortgage fraud."
Adam Schiff, United States senator
Schiff, who served as the lead manager during the first impeachment trial of President Trump in 2019, was investigated by the DOJ for alleged insurance fraud related to a property in Maryland, sources told ABC News in November.
Trump has repeatedly called for Schiff's prosecution, writing that he "needs to be brought to justice."
Schiff's lawyer has called the allegations "transparently false, stale, and long debunked."
"This is the kind of stuff you see tinpot dictators do," Schiff said in a video statement. "It is designed to intimidate his political opponents and somehow try to silence them."
Jack Smith, former special counsel
Smith, who led the classified documents and Jan. 6 investigations into Trump, faced an investigation by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel over whether his probes violated the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of federal employees.
The investigation followed a referral from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who asked the OSC to investigate Smith for his investigative and prosecutorial activities before the 2024 election, which Cotton argued were intended to harm Trump's political prospects.
Attorneys representing Smith criticized the investigation as "imaginary and unfounded," describing the reasoning for the probe as baseless and "partisan" in nature.
In October, Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, in a letter, asked Smith to testify before the panel so the committee can "understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement."
"Deranged Jack Smith, in my opinion, is a criminal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office the next day.
Smith testified in December during a closed-door hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, arguing his actions were "based on what the facts and the law required." He then publicly testified before the same panel on Jan. 22, and told MS NOW in July that the country is facing an "attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime."
Gavin and Jennifer Siebel Newsom, governor and first lady of California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in June that the Department of Justice is investigating him as well as his wife, claiming that President Trump is "coming after me because I'm considering running for president."
Newsom, a Democrat, did not specify exactly what the Department of Justice was allegedly investigating him for, but indicated his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom is also a target.
"In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees," Newsom said in a video posted to social media. "Not because they found a crime, because they're simply trying to find one."
Sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News that in 2025, investigators in California began examining Newsom's wife's taxes. The investigation is believed to be run out of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, where Newsom's former chief of staff Dana Williamson pleaded guilty in May to bank fraud and other charges. That case did not involve any allegations of criminality or wrongdoing by Newsom or his wife.
Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker, leads two organizations focused on gender equity -- the nonprofit Representation Project and the California Partners Project, an organization that seeks to boost female representation in leadership.
Trump has publicly criticized Newsom before; in June 2025, he called for Newsom's arrest as protesters clashed with the National Guard troops Trump had deployed in Los Angeles. At the time, border czar Tom Homan refused to rule out arresting state and local officials if they obstructed immigration operations. Newsom told Homan to come and arrest him, and Trump encouraged Homan to do so.
George and Alex Soros, prominent Democratic donors
Multiple top federal prosecutors at U.S. attorney's offices around the country received a directive last September to prepare to launch investigations into the Open Society Foundations, a group funded by the billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News.
The directive followed a public call by President Trump in August to charge George Soros and his son Alex with racketeering.
"George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America. We're not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more," Trump said.
The order was sent to U.S. attorney's offices in at least seven states, the sources confirmed, including California, New York, Illinois, Michigan and Maryland.
The letter listed potential charges prosecutors could take under consideration, ranging from material support of terrorism to wire fraud and racketeering, the sources said.
A spokesperson for Open Society Foundations, in a statement to ABC News, said, "The Open Society Foundations unequivocally condemn terrorism and do not fund terrorism. Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law."
Tim Walz, Minnesota governor, and Jacob Frey, Minneapolis mayor
Both Walz and Frey are the subject of a federal investigation into the degree their state has cooperated with federal immigration enforcement, according to a recently published legal opinion.
In an unusual move, a federal judge in June tossed out multiple Justice Department subpoenas related to the probe. Patrick Schiltz, chief judge of the Minnesota federal district court, found that the subpoenas were "part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials" to aid the Trump administration in supporting federal immigration activities that "played out against the backdrop of the Trump administration's well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the President's political and personal adversaries."
The subpoenas, which were issued on Jan. 20 against the backdrop of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration surge in Minnesota, sought an expansive amount of information from Walz and others including Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and Board of Commissioners.
Trump in January accused Frey on social media of a "very serious violation of the law" for vowing not to enforce federal immigration law.
"Surprisingly, Mayor Jacob Frey just stated that, 'Minneapolis does not, and will not, enforce Federal Immigration Laws.' This is after having had a very good conversation with him," Trump said on social media.
"Look, we have done nothing wrong, so of course we will comply" with the investigation, Frey told ABC News' Jonathan Karl, saying that he found the probe "deeply concerning."
Joe Biden, former president
Trump ordered then-Attorney General Pam Bondi last year to investigate whether members of former President Joe Biden's administration sought to conspire to cover up any lapses in Biden's mental state while he was in office.
Trump directed the nation's top law enforcement official, in coordination with his White House counsel, to investigate "the circumstances surrounding Biden's supposed execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in office," according to a statement from the White House.
Biden has denied Trump's related allegations that he illegally used an autopen.
"Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency," Biden said in a statement. "I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false."
John Brennan, former CIA director
Prosecutors in Florida have been investigating whether Brennan lied to Congress regarding an intelligence assessment about Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to sources.
The investigation is believed to center around congressional testimony from Brennan about his role in crafting a 2017 assessment by the intelligence community that detailed Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election to the benefit of Trump over his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Trump has long singled out Brennan, a vocal critic, as among those he believes was involved in illegally conspiring to accuse him of colluding with Russia, resulting in the special counsel probe that cast a cloud over much of Trump's first term in office.
Brennan has denied wrongdoing and said he continues to stand by the 2017 intelligence community assessment that determined Russia's interference in the 2016 election was aimed at denigrating Clinton to the benefit of Trump's candidacy. A separate bipartisan report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence largely affirmed the findings of the 2017 assessment.
The probe of Brennan is part of a larger investigation being run out of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida that sources say is examining whether former officials engaged in a "grand conspiracy" to violate Trump's rights dating back to his 2016 campaign for the presidency.
A top career prosecutor in Miami was removed from overseeing the Justice Department's investigation into Brennan after she allegedly expressed doubts about the viability of the probe, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
E. Jean Carroll, columnist
The Department of Justice in May launched a criminal investigation into Carroll, the former Elle magazine columnist who accused Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The investigation is allegedly centered around whether Carroll committed perjury during her civil lawsuits against Trump in which she accused him of sexually abusing her in a New York department store dressing room in the 1990s and defaming her when he denied her claims.
Trump was found liable in two civil suits that together resulted in judgments totaling nearly $90 million. After the Supreme Court refused to hear Trump's appeal of the verdict in Carroll's 2022 suit, a federal judge in July ordered Trump to pay the $5 million judgment.
Trump is continuing to appeal the $83 million judgment in the 2019 suit.
Reid Hoffman, prominent Democratic donor
Trump in November ordered the Department of Justice to investigate prominent Democrats who had been associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn.
When asked about the investigation in November, Trump called out Hoffman by name, saying, "Hoffman, in my opinion, should be under investigation."
Hoffman's ties to Epstein have previously been reported -- including a trip he took to Epstein's private Caribbean island. Hoffman has said he regretted the relationship, which he said he cultivated while fundraising for the MIT Media Lab, for which he was an advisory council member. None of Epstein's victims have made any public allegation of wrongdoing against Hoffman.
Bondi later announced that she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Epstein's involvement with high-profile Democrats.
"Thank you, Mr. President. SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I've asked him to take the lead," Bondi wrote on X in response to Trump. "As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people."
Eric Swalwell, United States representative
Swalwell, a Democratic representative from California, said in a lawsuit filed on Nov. 25 that he was the target of a criminal referral issued by Pulte in October.
The suit, which Swalwell filed against Pulte, accused Pulte of violating Sewell's First Amendment rights and privacy by allegedly using government databases to "concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud" against him, the complaint said. Swalwell denied any wrongdoing.
Pulte has maintained that the documents from his criminal referrals are part of the public record.
Swalwell subsequently dropped the case in March during his gubernatorial campaign, which he later suspended amid multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
Miles Taylor and Christopher Krebs, former Trump administration officials
Trump in April signed an executive order ordering the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to investigate Taylor and Krebs, who were both officials in Trump's first administration.
Taylor, who was chief of staff at the DHS, authored an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times in 2019 claiming that "senior officials in [Trump's] own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations."
Krebs, who was director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was fired by Trump after he contradicted Trump's false claims about election fraud following the 2020 election.
Trump's order directed the DHS secretary to "review Miles Taylor's activities as a Government employee" and submit a record with "recommendations for appropriate remedial or preventative actions to be taken to protect America's interests," and also directed DHS to "identify any instances where Krebs' conduct appears to have been contrary to suitability standards for Federal employees, [or] involved the unauthorized dissemination of classified information."
SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION / SECURITY DETAIL REVOKED
Trump, upon taking office, revoked the Secret Service protection and/or security detail for the following individuals.
- Kamala Harris, former vice president, 2024 Democratic presidential nominee
- Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden
- Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden
- Alejandro Mayorkas, former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security
- Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state
- Brian Hook, former U.S. special representative for Iran
- Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- John Bolton, former national security adviser
- Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
SECURITY CLEARANCE REVOKED
Upon taking office, Trump revoked the security clearance for the following individuals.
- Antony Blinken, former secretary of state
- Jacob Sullivan, former national security adviser
- Lisa Monaco, former deputy attorney general
- Norman Eisen, co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during first Trump impeachment
- Letitia James, New York attorney general
- Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney
- Andrew Weissmann, lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller's special counsel's office
- Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee
- Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Jan. 6 Committee
- Adam Kinzinger, member of House Jan. 6 Committee
- Fiona Hill, witness in 2019 House impeachment inquiry
- Alexander Vindman, witness in 2019 House impeachment inquiry
- Kimberly Cheatle, former director of Secret Service
- Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- James Clapper Jr., former U.S. director of national intelligence
- Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Leon Panetta, former U.S. secretary of defense
- John Brennan, former director of Central Intelligence
- Thomas Fingar, former chair of the National Intelligence Council
- Richard Ledgett, former deputy director of the National Security Agency
- Michael Morell, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Michael Vickers, former under secretary of defense for intelligence
- Douglas Wise, deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
- Nicholas Rasmussen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center
- Russell Travers, former U.S. acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center
- Andrew Liepman, former principal deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center
- John Moseman, former chief of staff for the Central Intelligence Agency
- Larry Pfeiffer, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency
- Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency
- Rodney Snyder, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency
- Glenn S. Gerstell, former general counsel of the National Security Agency
- David B. Buckley, former inspector general at Central Intelligence Agency
- Additional former intelligence officials associated with Hunter Biden laptop probe
- 37 former intelligence leaders associated with assessment of Russia's attempt to influence 2016 election
- Attorneys at law firms including Perkins Coie; Covington & Burling; Jenner & Block; Milbank; WilmerHale; Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher
ABC News' Jack Date, Luke Barr and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.