Donald Trump is assembling his incoming administration’s Department of Justice while vowing to exact revenge on his political enemies. Two sources familiar with the president-elect’s thinking say that could mean an end to a Watergate-era department policy designed to keep career prosecutors from becoming the president’s henchmen.
These sources, who are familiar with the Trump legal team’s priorities, said they expect Trump to tear up guidelines stemming from the Nixon administration and reinforced by a July 2021 memo issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland that imposed strict limits on communication between the White House and DOJ.
“There’s no reason not to have them in place unless you have corrupt and evil intent,” said Jill Wine-Banks, one of the prosecutors during the Watergate trial.