Having fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, President Trump should replace her with an Attorney General who will abandon the practice of lawfare—the use of the law to destroy political opponents—and make the Justice Department a nonpartisan agency dedicated to the principal of equal justice for all. Such a move will promote better government, end the futility of lawfare, and give himself a much needed popularity boost.
It’s been said that “Living well is the best revenge.” President Trump indicated an understanding of that principle during the 2024 presidential election. While decrying the use of lawfare by Democratic prosecutors against him, he said that the revenge he would seek would not be lawfare against Democrats, but good public policy for all.
Unfortunately, Trump has not yet been true to his word. He directed Bondi to seek indictments and convictions against several political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, and fired her when she failed to deliver.
James had successfully sued Trump for fraudulently acquiring a loan (which Trump had actually repaid in its entirety), and Comey had investigated Trump for alleged ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia (and found nothing). But in both cases, federal judges ruled that there was no evidence of actual criminal behavior against either James or Comey, and hence Bondi’s indictments were dismissed. Shortly thereafter, so was she.
In filling Bondi’s vacancy, Trump has a golden opportunity to fulfill his campaign pledge to end lawfare rather than continue it. To that end, he should appoint a nonpartisan Attorney General who will rededicate the Justice Department to what it should be doing—effectively enforcing the law to promote equal justice for all, with favoritism for none. Such an agency would be a true credit to his administration and an achievement of which he and his supporters could be justly proud.
And if that’s not enough to encourage Trump to make a major course correction, he should consider two other points:
First, lawfare is demonstrably futile, as shown not only by Bondi’s failures but by the failures of the Democrats to destroy Trump during the Biden Administration. Trump’s popularity with MAGA Republicans—mainly, but not exclusively, White working class voters and White conservative Christians—rests at least partly on their belief that he is the only one protecting them from the political elites who scorn them as “deplorable” and “garbage.” They saw each impeachment, indictment, conviction, civil suit, and liability finding as proof that the elites were out to destroy Trump and thereby establish more control over them. The MAGA Republicans became more determined than ever to stand by their man. Those who tracked Trump’s public opinion ratings noted that every legal action against Trump led to a jump in his popularity, and ultimately led to his return to the White House while winning both the electoral and the popular vote.
Second, Trump’s public approval ratings are currently sagging badly. Most polls show him under water, with approval ratings in the mid thirties and disapproval ratings well above 50 and sometimes even 60%, due to soaring prices of goods and services and an unpopular war. The abandonment of lawfare and the reform of the Justice Department can only increase his popularity and that of the GOP as the midterms inexorably approach.
So Trump now has a golden opportunity to boost his popularity by promoting justice and abandoning vindictive and futile lawfare. But will he take it?
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018, and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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