The Enemies List: A Case-by-Case Audit of Trump's Retaliatory Prosecutions

Overview

  <p>Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan legal organization, maintains a <a href="https://protectdemocracy.org/work/retaliatory-action-tracker/">Retaliatory Action Tracker</a> documenting federal investigations, indictments, arrests, and executive orders targeting perceived political opponents of President Trump since his second term began in January 2025.<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup></p>

  <p>The tracker identifies 37+ individuals and organizations subjected to federal action. This briefing independently verifies each major case against court records, news reporting from multiple outlets, and public statements from DOJ and the targets themselves. Every claim below is sourced.</p>

  <p>The central question: are these legitimate law enforcement actions, or a systematic campaign of political retribution using the machinery of the federal government?</p>

  

  <h2>The Pattern: What Makes These "Retaliatory"</h2>

  <p>Not every prosecution of a political figure is retaliatory. Three criteria distinguish retaliation from legitimate law enforcement:</p>

  <ol>
    <li><strong>Trump publicly demanded the action first</strong> &mdash; investigations opened after Trump called for them on Truth Social or in speeches, often by name</li>
    <li><strong>Selective enforcement</strong> &mdash; the alleged conduct is either trivial (a $19K mortgage discrepancy), widely practiced (paying informants to infiltrate hate groups), or applied only to Trump critics while identical conduct by allies goes unpursued</li>
    <li><strong>The cases collapse</strong> &mdash; grand juries refuse to indict, judges dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct or unlawful appointments, or the DOJ quietly drops the matter when it becomes inconvenient</li>
  </ol>

  <p>When all three criteria appear in the same case, coincidence becomes implausible. When they appear across <em>dozens</em> of cases, the pattern speaks for itself.</p>

  

  <h2>Cases Where Courts Rejected the Government's Actions</h2>

  <h3>Letitia James &mdash; New York Attorney General</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> James led the New York civil fraud case against Trump that resulted in a $454 million judgment. Trump publicly called for her prosecution on numerous occasions.<sup><a href="#s2">[2]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> Indicted October 9, 2025, on one count of bank fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution. The allegation: in 2020, James purchased a $137,000 property in Norfolk, Virginia, and misrepresented it as a second home rather than a rental to secure more favorable mortgage terms &mdash; an alleged savings of roughly <strong>$19,000 over the life of the loan</strong>.<sup><a href="#s2">[2]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Outcome:</strong> On November 24, 2025, a federal judge <strong>dismissed the indictment</strong>, ruling that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan had been <strong>unlawfully appointed</strong>. The DOJ attempted to re-indict. <strong>Two separate grand juries refused to indict her.</strong><sup><a href="#s3">[3]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The alleged fraud amount ($19K) would be extraordinary to pursue as a federal case under normal circumstances. James called it "revenge prosecution."<sup><a href="#s4">[4]</a></sup></p>

  <h3>James Comey &mdash; Former FBI Director</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> Comey led the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump fired him in 2017 and has publicly called for his prosecution for years.<sup><a href="#s5">[5]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>First indictment (September 2025):</strong> Charged with false statement to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. <strong>Dismissed November 24, 2025</strong> &mdash; same ruling, same unlawful appointment of prosecutor Halligan.<sup><a href="#s3">[3]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Second indictment (April 28, 2026):</strong> Re-indicted on charges of making threats against the President &mdash; based on an Instagram photo Comey posted and quickly deleted of seashells arranged to spell "86 47." Prosecutors allege this constituted a death threat against the 47th president.<sup><a href="#s5">[5]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> Pending. First Amendment scholars have called the prosecution unprecedented and constitutionally dubious.<sup><a href="#s6">[6]</a></sup></p>

  <h3>Six Democratic Members of Congress &mdash; "Sedition" Investigation</h3>

  <p><strong>Targets:</strong> Sens. Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Mark Kelly (AZ), plus Reps. Jason Crow (CO), Chris Deluzio (PA), Chrissy Houlahan (PA), and Maggie Goodlander (NH).<sup><a href="#s7">[7]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> FBI opened an investigation after the six posted a 90-second video urging military and intelligence personnel to "refuse illegal orders." Trump publicly called for them to be investigated for sedition. Sen. Slotkin stated Trump said she "should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition."<sup><a href="#s7">[7]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Outcome:</strong> Grand jury <strong>refused to indict</strong> on February 10, 2026. <strong>Zero</strong> of the grand jurors found probable cause &mdash; a remarkably complete rejection. Investigation formally dropped February 24.<sup><a href="#s8">[8]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The video's content &mdash; telling the military to refuse illegal orders &mdash; restates the legal obligation codified in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Congress also passed a resolution (H.Res.932) condemning the lawmakers for "seditious rhetoric."<sup><a href="#s7">[7]</a></sup></p>

  <h3>Jerome Powell &mdash; Federal Reserve Chair</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> Trump spent months publicly attacking Powell for not cutting interest rates fast enough.<sup><a href="#s9">[9]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> DOJ opened a criminal investigation into Powell over cost overruns on the Fed headquarters renovation project (costs rose from $1.9B to $2.5B). The investigation was publicly announced January 11, 2026.<sup><a href="#s9">[9]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Outcome:</strong> <strong>Dropped April 24, 2026</strong> by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who referred the matter to the Fed's inspector general. The timing was noted by multiple outlets: closing the investigation cleared the confirmation path for Kevin Warsh, Trump's nominee to replace Powell.<sup><a href="#s9">[9]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> Criminally investigating a sitting Fed Chair over a building renovation budget is without precedent. The investigation opened during a period when Trump was publicly feuding with Powell over monetary policy.</p>

  

  <h2>Cases Where Trump Explicitly Called for the Action</h2>

  <h3>Adam Schiff &mdash; California Senator</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> Schiff led the first Trump impeachment inquiry. Trump has called him "Shifty Schiff" and publicly demanded his prosecution hundreds of times.<sup><a href="#s10">[10]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> DOJ opened a mortgage fraud investigation alleging Schiff misrepresented a Maryland property as his primary residence. AG Bondi tapped Ed Martin as "special attorney" to probe the allegations. Martin met with FHFA Director Bill Pulte, who sent a criminal referral to DOJ.<sup><a href="#s10">[10]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> After months of investigation, prosecutors in Maryland <strong>could not produce enough evidence</strong> to bring charges. The probe has stalled. Meanwhile, a grand jury is now investigating <strong>the handling of the Schiff investigation itself</strong> &mdash; specifically whether DOJ officials Martin and Pulte improperly directed the probe.<sup><a href="#s11">[11]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The investigators are now being investigated for how they conducted the investigation.</p>

  <h3>Chris Krebs &mdash; Former CISA Director</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> As head of CISA, Krebs declared the 2020 election "the most secure in American history." Trump fired him via tweet in November 2020.<sup><a href="#s12">[12]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> On April 9, 2025, Trump signed an <strong>executive order by name</strong> directing agency investigations into Krebs, revoking his security clearance, and &mdash; remarkably &mdash; revoking the clearances of <strong>all employees at his private employer, SentinelOne</strong>. DOJ was ordered to investigate his activities over the previous six years.<sup><a href="#s12">[12]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> No public evidence of any federal crime has been presented. Krebs resigned from SentinelOne to shield the company from further retaliation. Over 30 prominent cybersecurity professionals signed a public letter condemning the action as political retaliation.<sup><a href="#s12">[12]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> An executive order targeting a private citizen by name, and extending punishment to every employee at his private company, is unprecedented in modern American governance.</p>

  

  <h2>Active Prosecutions With Retaliation Concerns</h2>

  <h3>John Bolton &mdash; Former National Security Advisor</h3>

  <p><strong>Background:</strong> Bolton publicly called Trump unfit for office and wrote a bestselling memoir criticizing his presidency.<sup><a href="#s13">[13]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> FBI agents searched Bolton's home in Bethesda, MD, on August 22, 2025, based on intelligence referred by CIA Director John Ratcliffe (Trump appointee) to FBI Director Kash Patel (Trump appointee). Indicted October 16 on 18 counts: 8 counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention.<sup><a href="#s13">[13]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> Bolton pleaded not guilty October 17, 2025. Trial pending.<sup><a href="#s13">[13]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The charges mirror those brought against Trump himself over classified documents &mdash; charges that were dropped after Trump's election. The referral chain (Ratcliffe &rarr; Patel &rarr; indictment) runs entirely through Trump loyalists appointed specifically to key positions.</p>

  <h3>Don Lemon &mdash; Journalist</h3>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> Lemon was arrested by the FBI in Beverly Hills at approximately midnight on January 29-30, 2026, while in Los Angeles covering the Grammy Awards. Charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights and FACE Act violations in connection with a January 18 church protest in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators protested a pastor who works for ICE. AG Bondi personally announced the arrest.<sup><a href="#s14">[14]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> Pleaded not guilty. Lemon maintains he was present as a journalist covering the protest for his livestream show, not as a participant.<sup><a href="#s14">[14]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> Arresting a journalist at midnight in a different city, 1,800 miles from the protest, and having the Attorney General personally announce it, is not standard procedure for a church protest charge.</p>

  <h3>Southern Poverty Law Center</h3>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> Indicted April 21, 2026, on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from the SPLC's decades-old program of paying informants who infiltrated white supremacist groups including the KKK, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party. FBI Director Kash Patel personally announced the charges.<sup><a href="#s15">[15]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>The allegations:</strong> Between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC funneled $3+ million through fictitious entities to pay at least nine informants embedded in extremist organizations. One informant received $1 million while affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Another was paid $270,000 while embedded in the group that planned the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally.<sup><a href="#s15">[15]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>SPLC's response:</strong> The organization says its informant program saved lives by providing intelligence on violent extremist activity and will fight the charges.<sup><a href="#s16">[16]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The SPLC has been on conservative target lists for years. The practice of paying informants to infiltrate extremist groups mirrors programs run by the FBI itself. Legal scholars at Just Security called the indictment's legal theory "novel and troubling."<sup><a href="#s16">[16]</a></sup></p>

  <h3>Kilmar Abrego Garcia</h3>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man living in the U.S. who had <strong>never been charged with or convicted of any crime</strong>, was deported on March 15, 2025, to El Salvador's mega-prison CECOT &mdash; in <strong>direct violation of a court order</strong> that prohibited his removal because he feared gang violence. The administration called it "an administrative error."<sup><a href="#s17">[17]</a></sup></p>

  <p>After a judge ordered his return to the U.S., DOJ indicted him on June 6, 2025, for human smuggling conspiracy. A sealed order later revealed DOJ officials called his prosecution a <strong>"top priority" only after the illegal deportation was exposed</strong>.<sup><a href="#s17">[17]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Status:</strong> A federal judge granted habeas corpus on December 11, ordering his release. A subsequent ruling barred ICE from re-detaining him. He has pleaded not guilty.<sup><a href="#s17">[17]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Context:</strong> The government deported him illegally, got caught, was ordered to bring him back, then indicted him on the day of his return &mdash; using charges that materialized only after the court ordered his repatriation.</p>

  

  <h2>The One Case That Was Legitimate</h2>

  <h3>Judge Hannah Dugan &mdash; Milwaukee County Circuit Court</h3>

  <p><strong>What happened:</strong> On April 18, 2025, ICE officers were waiting outside Dugan's courtroom to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. Dugan sent another judge to distract the officers, then called Flores-Ruiz's case, quickly rescheduled it, and ushered him and his lawyer out a back door through a private hallway.<sup><a href="#s18">[18]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Outcome:</strong> After a weeklong trial in December 2025, a jury <strong>convicted Dugan of felony obstruction</strong> and acquitted her of the lesser concealment charge. She resigned January 3, 2026. A post-trial motion to overturn the verdict was denied in April 2026.<sup><a href="#s18">[18]</a></sup></p>

  <p><strong>Why this one is different:</strong> The conduct was caught on security cameras. A jury of peers convicted her. The prosecution did not rely on a novel legal theory. The case would plausibly have been brought regardless of the political climate. This is what legitimate law enforcement looks like &mdash; and it's the exception on this list, not the rule.</p>

  

  <h2>The Minnesota Crackdown</h2>

  <p>Minnesota is the epicenter of the retaliatory pattern, with multiple overlapping actions targeting the state's Democratic leadership:</p>

  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>Target</th><th>Action</th><th>Date</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td>Gov. Tim Walz</td>
        <td>Criminal investigation &amp; grand jury subpoena (conspiracy to impede federal agents)</td>
        <td>Jan 16&ndash;20, 2026<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey</td>
        <td>Criminal investigation &amp; grand jury subpoena</td>
        <td>Jan 16&ndash;20, 2026<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her</td>
        <td>Criminal investigation &amp; grand jury subpoena</td>
        <td>Jan 16&ndash;20, 2026<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>AG Keith Ellison</td>
        <td>Criminal investigation &amp; grand jury subpoena</td>
        <td>Jan 16&ndash;20, 2026<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Hennepin County Atty. Mary Moriarty</td>
        <td>Criminal investigation &amp; grand jury subpoena</td>
        <td>Jan 16&ndash;20, 2026<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Nekima Levy Armstrong</td>
        <td>Arrest (FACE Act)</td>
        <td>Jan 20&ndash;22, 2026</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Don Lemon</td>
        <td>Arrest in Beverly Hills (church protest 1,800 miles away)</td>
        <td>Jan 29&ndash;30, 2026<sup><a href="#s14">[14]</a></sup></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>30 total defendants</td>
        <td>Expanded conspiracy indictment</td>
        <td>Feb 26, 2026</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <p>The statute being used &mdash; 18 U.S.C. &sect; 372 (conspiracy to impede federal officers) &mdash; is the same one used to charge some January 6 defendants. It is now being applied to a sitting governor, two mayors, an attorney general, and a county attorney for publicly opposing ICE enforcement tactics.<sup><a href="#s19">[19]</a></sup></p>

  

  <h2>By the Numbers</h2>

  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>Metric</th><th>Count</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr><td>Total individuals/organizations targeted</td><td><strong>37+</strong></td></tr>
      <tr><td>Cases dismissed by judges</td><td><strong>5+</strong></td></tr>
      <tr><td>Investigations dropped by DOJ</td><td><strong>3+</strong></td></tr>
      <tr><td>Grand juries that refused to indict</td><td><strong>3</strong> (Slotkin/lawmakers, James &times;2)</td></tr>
      <tr><td>Cases preceded by Trump's public demand</td><td><strong>6+</strong></td></tr>
      <tr><td>Prosecutors found unlawfully appointed</td><td><strong>1</strong> (affecting 2 cases)</td></tr>
      <tr><td>Career DOJ prosecutors who resigned</td><td><strong>100+</strong></td></tr>
      <tr><td>Convictions that appear legally sound</td><td><strong>1</strong> (Judge Dugan)</td></tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  

  <h2>Historical Comparison: Nixon's Enemies List</h2>

  <p>The most common comparison is to Richard Nixon's "enemies list" &mdash; a roster of political opponents targeted for harassment through IRS audits, FBI surveillance, and regulatory pressure. The comparison is instructive, but the current situation exceeds it in several dimensions:</p>

  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>Dimension</th><th>Nixon (1971&ndash;1974)</th><th>Trump (2025&ndash;2026)</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td>Primary tools</td>
        <td>IRS audits, FBI surveillance, wiretaps</td>
        <td><strong>Federal criminal indictments</strong>, FBI raids, executive orders naming individuals</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Targets</td>
        <td>Journalists, activists, Democratic donors</td>
        <td>Sitting senators, governors, a Fed Chair, the AG of New York, a former FBI director, a former NSA, a major civil rights organization</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Severity</td>
        <td>Administrative harassment</td>
        <td>Felony criminal charges carrying <strong>years to decades</strong> in prison</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Openness</td>
        <td>Secret (exposed by leaks and investigation)</td>
        <td><strong>Publicly announced</strong>, often by the AG or FBI Director personally, and preceded by Trump's public demands</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Legal accountability</td>
        <td>Led to resignation and near-impeachment</td>
        <td>Ongoing with no accountability mechanism engaged</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <p>Nixon's enemies list was a scandal that ended a presidency. The current campaign is conducted in the open, defended as legitimate, and significantly more severe in its legal consequences for the targets.</p>

  

  <h2>Conclusion</h2>

  <p>Protect Democracy's tracker makes a specific, verifiable claim: the Trump administration is systematically using federal law enforcement to target political opponents. The case outcomes substantiate this claim.</p>

  <p>When the government's own grand juries repeatedly refuse to indict, when judges dismiss cases for unlawful prosecutorial appointments, when investigations are opened at the president's public demand and dropped when they become politically inconvenient, when the investigators themselves come under investigation for how they conducted their probes &mdash; the pattern is not explainable as legitimate law enforcement that happens to involve political figures.</p>

  <p>The scale is remarkable: a former FBI director, a former NSA, the attorney general of the largest state, a sitting governor, two sitting senators, multiple members of Congress, the chair of the Federal Reserve, a major civil rights organization, and a journalist arrested at midnight 1,800 miles from the alleged crime.</p>

  <p>One case on the tracker &mdash; Judge Dugan &mdash; resulted in a legitimate conviction for conduct that would plausibly be prosecuted regardless of the political environment. That case demonstrates what normal law enforcement looks like. Every other major case on the list deviates from that baseline in ways that point consistently in one direction.</p>

  <p>The question is no longer whether political retaliation is occurring. The question is whether any institution has the will or the power to stop it.</p>