New WSJ Report is Proof Trump is Waging Campaign of 'Malicious' Prosecution, Warn Critics

Critics of President Donald Trump are warning that a new report from the Wall Street Journal has provided clear evidence that the president is waging a campaign of "selective and malicious" prosecutions of his political opponents.

As the Journal reported on Wednesday night, Trump last month posted a message his social media platform, Truth Social, calling for the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and former FBI Director James Comey that was actually intended to be a direct message sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

In the post, the president said he had received messages saying, 'What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” He also said he had "fired" Erik Siebert from his job as a US attorney in Virginia for not bringing charges against his political foes.

"Trump believed he had sent Bondi the message directly, addressing it to 'Pam,' and was surprised to learn it was public," the Journal reported. "Bondi grew upset and called White House aides and Trump, who then agreed to send a second post praising Bondi as doing a 'GREAT job.'"

Many Trump critics argued this revelation confirms that the president is abusing his power to prosecute his political enemies by sending direct orders to the DOJ to file charges against them.

"It’s tempting to laugh at this because it’s all so buffoonishly incompetent," wrote Sarah Longwell, a former Republican pollster and current publisher of The Bulwark. "But we shouldn’t be numb to what this means: Trump is directing the head of DOJ to prosecute his political enemies via his janky social media property’s DMs. This alone would end a regular presidency."

The new report comes after Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to Trump's allegations that he made false statements to Congress five years ago.

In a segment that aired on Wednesday night, MSNBC host Chris Hayes cited the Journal's and called it "materially relevant" to claims being made by Comey's attorneys that their client has been targeted in a "selection and malicious prosecution."

One of Hayes' guests on Wednesday, MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance, argued that defense attorneys face very high standards of evidence to prove a vindictive prosecution, but she said Trump's errant direct message to Bondi would likely clear the bar.

"If this DM isn't evidence of [vindictive prosecution], I don't know what is," she said. "I think this case will be dismissed on this ground, perhaps on selective prosecution too, which is the suggestion that the government is targeting your client for prosecution that wouldn't be brought against anyone else."

Adam Cochrane, who runs activist venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, expressed astonishment and outrage at the Journal's report, which he argued should result in Trump's impeachment.

"[Trump] is indeed pressuring the independent DoJ to weaponize [its power] against opponents unduly," he wrote on X. "The DoJ is playing ball instead of resisting. What the ACTUAL F*CK!!!! Any other president would have been impeached for any of these matters."

Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of pro-democracy media platform MeidasTouch, similarly argued that Trump's message to Bondi was "another incident that would’ve gotten any other president immediately impeached" but that is "only the 127th worst thing Trump has done in 2025."