Donald Trump wants to control the Justice Department and FBI. His allies have a plan

FILE PHOTO: Former president Donald Trump attends his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court for falsifying documents related to hush money payments, in New York, NY, U.S., May 16, 2024. Victor J. Blue/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Trump, who has been indicted on dozens of criminal charges by the Justice Department, has vowed on the campaign trail to overhaul the agency if he wins the presidential election on Nov. 5 and pledged to use it to pursue his own opponents, including Democratic President Joe Biden. "Trump feels that the DoJ has institutional problems," said Steve Bannon, a prominent Trump ally who was prosecuted by the Justice Department and convicted for contempt of Congress."It's not just personnel: you do need to purge the DoJ, but you also need to reform it."

The campaign itself has few full-time policy staffers. Trump and his team are in frequent contact with outside groups, such as those formulating recommendations on the Justice Department. The general counsel provides legal advice to FBI employees regarding ongoing probes and other matters. Closing it would force the bureau to receive legal guidance from people closer to Trump's attorney general in the chain-of-command and limit the FBI's ability to conduct investigations without close political oversight, according to several Trump supporters and legal professionals with knowledge of the department's workings.

"What is not standard politics is somebody basically coming in and saying we are going to jettison the idea that the Department of Justice should have a wall of separation between it and the personal political agenda of the president." The former president spent the opening months of his first administration butting heads with his attorney general and FBI director, both of whom angered the president by failing to halt inquiries into his 2016 campaign.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday deplored what he called"a series of unprecedented and frankly unfounded attacks on the Justice Department." They said they do not speak for Trump, but both are contributing ideas to Project 2025. Hamilton is a trusted lieutenant of Stephen Miller, one of Trump's closest policy advisers. Miller did not respond to requests for comment.

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