Official Response to Threats Against Political Opponents

In recent days, the president and members of his Cabinet have made unprecedented and unfounded attacks on a former president and other public officials. These have escalated into real threats of prosecution and imprisonment and were accompanied by a deepfake AI video and image portraying an arrest.

There is currently no compelling evidence to support the claims being made — they are rooted in conspiratorial thinking and appear designed to foment outrage from partisans. This is an egregious violation of two norms that form the bedrock of a free society: the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power. This activity is dangerous, destabilizing, and designed to sow fear of the opposing party’s leaders. It also distracts from other important issues at hand.

Partisan political disagreements do not constitute a legitimate basis for prosecutorial action. We have growing concern about the clear lack of independence of agencies like the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which should never be subject to political pressure and influence. 

We encourage members of Congress and other elected officials to speak out forcefully against politically motivated attacks and to maintain a high standard for the use of the federal government to investigate and prosecute. These same institutions, once corrupted, can be turned against Congress, the judiciary, and citizens as well. We each have an obligation to hold our elected leaders accountable to objective truth and to demand that federal power is never exercised for personal or partisan gains.