By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A big banner that includes Donald Trump’s face was held on the outside of Justice Division headquarters on Thursday in a bodily show of the Republican president’s efforts to exert energy over the legislation enforcement company that after investigated him.
Whereas Trump banners have been hung outdoors different companies throughout Washington, the choice to position one on the storied Justice Division constructing amounted to a putting image of the erosion of the division’s custom of independence from White Home management.
A banner exhibiting President Donald Trump is hung from the Division of Justice, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photograph/Allison Robbert)
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A banner exhibiting President Donald Trump is hung from the Division of Justice, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photograph/Allison Robbert)
The banner, hung between two columns on one nook of the constructing, says, “Make America Protected Once more,” a slogan utilized by the administration to tout its efforts to clamp down on unlawful immigration and violent crime.
Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi has postured herself as the president’s chief supporter and protector, eschewing the strategy of predecessors who sought to keep up an arms-length distance from the White Home to guard the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions.
Trump officers have rejected accusations that they’ve weaponized the Justice Division for political functions, saying the Biden administration was the one which politicized legislation enforcement with two federal prison instances in opposition to Trump that had been deserted after he received the 2024 election.
The Justice Division in a press release Thursday stated it’s proud to “have fun 250 years of our nice nation and our historic work to make America protected once more at President Trump’s route.”
The Trump administration has opened investigations into various the president’s perceived enemies, amplifying considerations that the company is getting used to precise revenge on his political foes.
Federal prosecutors introduced costs in opposition to New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey that had been later dismissed, and individually sought to indict a number of Democratic lawmakers in reference to a video through which they urged U.S. army members to resist “unlawful orders.”
The division can also be investigating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over congressional testimony and Democratic Minnesota officers over whether or not they obstructed federal immigration enforcement by means of public statements.
