Newly released intelligence documents detail what officials say was the shaky basis and aggressive execution of the Russia collusion probe into Trump and his allies. The records also shed light on politically sensitive investigations that were never pursued.
According to the files, allegations ranging from corruption at the Clinton Foundation to leaks of classified material that could have implicated Democrats were left untouched at the FBI and Justice Department during Trump’s first term and under President Joe Biden.
Critics point to the contrast between the DOJ’s years-long pursuit of Trump from 2016 to 2024 and its reluctance to investigate other targets as evidence of bias.
“During the Biden administration, the Justice Department worked as his private attorneys,” Judicial Watch senior investigator Sean Dunagan told the Washington Examiner. “Even if one wants to avoid the phrase ‘deep state,’ there certainly is an administrative state, and the DOJ served to protect and ignore evidence and slow-walk investigations and close investigations into people who were close to that power establishment.
“It’s not how the DOJ is supposed to operate. It was highly selective in who they investigated and how,” he added.
The uneven approach to law enforcement predates Biden’s presidency. During Trump’s first term, the Russia probe effectively sidelined his own Justice Department and intelligence chiefs, leaving other sensitive investigations stalled.
“You didn’t have people with the strong backbone in political leadership at the Justice Department and intelligence community early on in Trump 1.0, and I think you saw a paralysis of political leadership that weren’t really willing to call a spade a spade for what was obviously weaponized or deep-state actors,” Oversight Project chief counsel Kyle Brosnan told the Washington Examiner.
“Now, I think you have the benefit of more experience, the benefit of people recognizing that, first of all, the deep state exists and is a massive problem, [and] that law enforcement has largely become weaponized, by not only sort of career bureaucrats but also by political leadership,” Brosnan added.
Few Democrats benefited more from the Russia investigation than Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), then the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. For years, he claimed intelligence agencies held significant evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia, often suggesting he had personally seen classified material supporting the theory.
FBI documents released last month indicate Schiff may have also leaked classified information that reinforced what has since been deemed a debunked collusion narrative.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said restoring the public’s trust in the DOJ after nearly a decade of high-profile political investigations is among her top priorities, the report noted.
