http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/laura/justice-or-payback-2025-s422.pngWhen justice turns into a weapon, democracy becomes the target. How the Department of Justice is being twisted into a tool for political revenge — and why it’s tearing down the rule of law in the process.

LAKE GENEVA, WI - Justice is supposed to be blind. Lately, it feels more like it’s winking. The Department of Justice has become the playground of power, where loyalty determines guilt, and revenge wears a badge. What once stood as a pillar of integrity now looks like a political hit squad dressed up in government suits.

Take James Comey. The man was out of the spotlight, minding his own business, when suddenly he’s hauled back into the headlines with an indictment for false statements about testimony he gave years ago. The timing isn’t just suspicious, it’s insulting. It screams of a political stunt, a grudge dressed up as a legal proceeding. It tells every public servant watching that if you cross the wrong person, they’ll eventually come for you, even if they have to dig up the body of an old investigation to do it.

Then there’s Letitia James. The New York Attorney General who had the guts to take Trump’s company to court now finds herself accused of bank fraud by the same Justice Department she once served beside. You can call it coincidence if you want, but it looks like vengeance to anyone with eyes. This isn’t accountability. It’s payback. It’s punishment for daring to hold power accountable.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “Weaponization Working Group” is the cherry on top. Supposedly created to root out political bias, it’s actually a weapon disguised as reform. It’s like hiring arsonists to investigate fires. Critics say it’s being used to track down Trump’s enemies, not to restore justice. Watching the DOJ investigate “weaponization” while actively weaponizing itself is enough to make you choke on the irony.

Trump has never been shy about using the Justice Department like it’s his personal law firm. He doesn’t hint, he commands. He publicly tells the attorney general who to prosecute, naming names like a mob boss giving orders. Comey. Letitia James. Adam Schiff. A “private” message meant for Pam Bondi accidentally went public, revealing what everyone already suspected: justice isn’t being served, it’s being ordered.

Meanwhile, ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising site, suddenly finds itself under investigation. Not the Republican platforms, of course. Just the one tied to Democrats. Selective justice is not justice at all. It’s manipulation dressed up as law enforcement, and it reeks of political theater.

Then there’s the FBI arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, a sitting judge who just happened to criticize the administration’s policies. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but when critics end up in handcuffs, it starts to feel like intimidation instead of law. This is what happens in regimes, not republics.

Behind the scenes, career employees at the DOJ who dare to push back against these political orders are being reassigned, demoted, or outright fired. It’s called “realignment,” which is a nice bureaucratic word for purging anyone with a conscience. The message is clear: toe the line or lose your job.

Every democracy reaches a crossroads where people have to decide what they’ll tolerate. This might be ours. When prosecutors become soldiers in a political war, the country stops being governed by laws and starts being ruled by fear. When truth becomes optional and revenge becomes policy, the justice system doesn’t just break. It turns against the people it was built to protect.

Lady Justice used to wear a blindfold to stay impartial. Now she’s peeking to make sure she’s not about to indict the wrong team. And the rest of us? We’re supposed to sit quietly and pretend we don’t see what’s happening.

But we do see it. We see the hypocrisy. We see the abuse of power. We see the transformation of justice into a weapon of retribution. It’s not just shameful. It’s dangerous. Because once the law becomes a tool for vengeance, it stops being the law at all.

If this is what justice looks like now, then it’s no longer justice. It’s just payback, and America deserves better.