U.S. justice department expands investigations tied to Trump critics and former officials

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Justice Dept expands Trump investigations

Highlights

John Bolton pleads guilty to one count of mishandling classified information, reducing his October 18-count indictment, and faces a fine, community service, and up to five years in prison.
The Department of Justice is expanding probes against prominent Trump critics and officials, including James Comey, Lisa Cook, John Brennan, Adam Schiff, Fani Willis, Eric Swalwell, and Gavin Newsom, covering allegations from mortgage fraud to conspiracy.
Multiple investigations have stalled or failed in court, with a federal judge blocking a $2.5 billion probe into Jerome Powell and Letitia James seeing mortgage-fraud charges dismissed after her civil fraud judgment against Trump was overturned.

Bolton case sets early benchmark

As reported by Financial Times, the Department of Justice has already converted one of the president’s long-running feuds into a courtroom result, after Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to a reduced charge tied to mishandling classified information.

Bolton had originally been indicted in October on 18 counts, but a plea agreement cuts that to one count in exchange for a guilty plea. He is also set to pay a fine, perform community service and could still receive a prison sentence of up to 10 years, although the government agrees to seek no more than five years.

Trump’s break with Bolton dates back to the end of his first administration, after the former adviser emerges as a sharp critic and in 2020 publishes a book accusing Trump of using foreign policy to aid his re-election effort. The White House now presents the guilty plea as the first clear legal win in a wider campaign against former adversaries.

James Comey remains another prominent figure under indictment pressure. Prosecutors charge the former FBI director in April over a social media image of seashells forming the message “86 47”, which they argue amounts to a threat against Trump, while a separate case tied to Comey’s 2020 congressional testimony is dismissed after a court rules the prosecutor was unlawfully appointed.

Broader probes test political and institutional boundaries

The widening set of investigations reaches officials across Congress, state government and financial regulation. Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook and Senator Adam Schiff both deny mortgage fraud allegations, while former CIA director John Brennan faces two criminal probes, including one tied to alleged false statements to Congress and another examining claims of a broader conspiracy within the Obama and Biden administrations.

In Georgia, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is reportedly under federal investigation after previously pursuing Trump over the state’s 2020 election case. California congressman Eric Swalwell is also facing mortgage-fraud and sexual-misconduct allegations that he denies, and Governor Gavin Newsom says the Department of Justice is investigating both him and his wife through several probes that a person familiar with the matter says have been under way for roughly a year.

Some efforts have stalled in court or before grand juries, showing limits to the campaign. A federal judge blocks a probe into Jerome Powell over a $2.5 billion Federal Reserve renovation project, Minnesota officials defeat subpoenas tied to immigration enforcement, and a grand jury declines to indict the so-called “seditious six” Democratic lawmakers over remarks about refusing illegal military orders.

Letitia James, the New York attorney-general who won a major civil fraud judgment against Trump before that penalty is overturned on appeal, also remains under scrutiny after earlier mortgage-fraud charges are thrown out. Together, the cases show how Trump’s retaliation drive is reshaping legal and political risk for critics, former allies and senior public officials across the U.S.

Our earlier coverage on the Justice Department’s SNAP data lawsuits explained how the DOJ moved to compel Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota to turn over five years of applicant records sought by the USDA. Officials argued that restricted access to state data could leave billions in benefits exposed to fraud, waste and overpayments, framing the court push as part of a broader effort to tighten oversight and enforcement across federal programs.

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