Former Attorney General Eric Holder accused the Trump administration on Sunday of launching politically motivated investigations into prominent Democrats without any factual basis.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Holder addressed probes targeting former President Barack Obama, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). He has previously described the actions as the “weaponization of the Justice Department,” a charge Trump has also used against the DOJ under President Biden.
Host Kristen Welker asked Holder how he responds to Trump’s argument that Biden’s DOJ began the practice. Holder rejected the comparison outright.
“That’s totally inconsistent with the facts,” Holder said. “There was a predicate for all of the things, a basis for the investigations, the moves that the Justice Department did.”
Holder accused Trump’s White House of exerting unprecedented influence over the DOJ, saying the two were “joined at the hip” in ways unseen in previous administrations. He questioned what evidence, if any, supported the investigations into high-profile Democrats.
“What’s the basis for the investigation when you’re talking about Senator Schiff, Attorney General James? Certainly, it’s absurd… looking at President Obama over supposed actions he took. There’s simply no factual basis for these investigations,” Holder said.
The remarks underscore a deepening political clash between Trump and his critics, as both sides accuse the other of using federal law enforcement to target political opponents.
