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A large banner of Donald Trump’s face was hung outside the US Justice Department headquarters on Thursday, in what appears to be an attempt to seize control of the Republican president’s once-investigative law enforcement agency.
While Trump banners hang outside agencies in Washington, the decision to place one on a sprawling Justice Department building is a striking sign of the department’s erosion of its culture of independence from White House control.
A banner hanging between two columns at one corner of the building reads, “Make America Safe Again,” symbolizing the administration’s efforts to prevent illegal immigration and violent crime.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has cast herself as the president’s chief supporter and protector, eschewing the approach of predecessors who sought to keep the White House at gunpoint to protect the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions.
Trump officials have denied allegations that the Justice Department is being rigged for political purposes, while the Biden administration in 2016 They said he politically elevated law enforcement in two federal criminal cases against Trump after he won the 2024 election.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new banner Thursday.
A federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Leticia James. U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Curry has ruled that the prosecutor who impeached U.S. President Donald Trump was illegally appointed.
The Trump administration has opened investigations into several of the president’s enemies, underscoring concerns that the agency is being used to retaliate against political enemies.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against New York Attorney General Leticia James and former FBI Director James Comey. They were later firedAnd he has separately tried to impeach several Democratic lawmakers over a video urging members of the U.S. military to resist “illegal orders.”
The department is also investigating US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. More than congressional testimony And about Democratic Minnesota officials obstructing federal immigration enforcement Public statements.