Justice Department girds for a test of its independence

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : "Huber said that as Trump prepares to take office again, he remains hopeful that the Justice Department will continue to be stocked with principled leaders who can resist undue political pressure.
47% : Trump demonstrated his willingness to breach the traditional boundaries between politics and law enforcement in his first term, initiating or supporting a wide range of government investigations into rivals and critics.
44% : In addition to Bondi, Trump has chosen three members of his former criminal defense team for senior roles at the Justice Department.
41% : Law enforcement officials are particularly concerned that Trump seems to be planning to repeat one of the most tumultuous steps of his first term: firing the FBI director.
39% : "As Trump begins filling out his administration and putting his stamp on Washington again, few issues loom larger than the resilience of the Justice Department's tradition of independence and its commitment to the rule of law.
36% : The inspector general's findings, however, did not go far enough for Trump and some of his supporters.
32% : Trump has suggested using the military justice system to pursue Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
29% : Now Trump is preparing to reoccupy the White House not just with his agenda, goals and grievances but with the extra ammunition of a Supreme Court ruling that specifically says he has authority over criminal investigations.
29% : Those include the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and the special counsel cases against Trump over his efforts to remain in power after his 2020 loss and his subsequent retention of classified documents.
25% : Now, as Trump gets ready to assume office again, he appears to be preparing to force Wray out.
25% : Gaetz quickly backed out, and Trump has said he will instead nominate Pam Bondi, a longtime ally and former Florida attorney general.
21% : In 2017, Trump nominated the director, Christopher Wray, to a 10-year term to succeed the just-fired James Comey.
18% : When Trump announced that he had chosen Matt Gaetz, the scandal-plagued former Florida Congress member, as his next attorney general, many law enforcement officials saw the selection of someone who had spent years railing against the FBI and the Justice Department as the clearest sign yet of Trump's determination to punish both agencies.
15% : But when Huber's work ended years later with no charges or public report, Trump publicly called him a "garbage disposal unit for important documents.

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