The Department of Justice was persecuting Donald Trump with sham trials just last year. But today, now-President Trump spoke at the DOJ, calling out the “communist” federal persecution of conservatives.

“They tried to turn America into a corrupt communist and Third World country, but in the end, the thugs failed and the truth won. Freedom won, justice won, democracy won, and above all, the American people won,” Trump said. “There could be no more heinous betrayal of American values than to use the law to terrorize the innocent and reward the wicked.”

A “corrupt group of hacks and radicals” in the federal government “weaponized the vast powers of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to try and thwart the will of the American people,” Trump stated. He acknowledged the “lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls” at the DOJ.

Federal agents “target[ed] patriotic parents at school board meeting” as domestic terrorists, treated traditional Catholics similarly, let supporters of Antifa and Hamas walk free, and jailed “elderly Christians and pro-life activists,” Trump noted. Meanwhile, federal officials “imported illegal alien murderers, drug dealers and child predators from all over the world.”

“Our predecessors turned this Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice,” Trump stated. “But I stand before you today to declare that those days are over and they are never going to come back.”

Trump cited November’s landslide election results as a “mandate” for a “far-reaching investigation … into the corruption of our system.” He clarified the map turned “red for Republican, not for communist” — though leftists “would like it to turn red for communist.”

He recalled the various instances of political persecution he overcame before winning November’s election.

“You remember the 51 intelligence agents that said, as an example, that Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell came from Russia when they knew it came right from his bedroom,” Trump said. “They spied on my campaign, launched one hoax and disinformation operation after another, broke the law on a colossal scale, persecuted my family, staff, and supporters, raided my home Mar-a-Lago, and did everything within their power to prevent me from becoming the president.”

In a recently revealed example of this persecution, Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson wrote Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 13, disclosing records indicating that anti-Trump agents obtained the government cell phones of the now-president and former Vice President Mike Pence in a politically-motivated fishing expedition for information.

In his remarks, Trump named leftist attorney Marc Elias, who backs various lawfare campaigns across the country to target Trump and subvert election results. As noted by The Federalist’s Breccan Thies, Elias became infamous for “hiring on behalf of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign the outfit Fusion GPS to invent the ‘Steele dossier,’” which supposedly linked Trump to Russian assets. Despite this, former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign hired him as legal counsel. 

Trump also mentioned former DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is responsible for prosecuting a laundry list of unfounded cases against the now-president. Smith ultimately dropped both his so-called “election subversion” and “classified documents” cases against Trump and resigned before the president took office. Trump called out former President Joe Biden and his far-left Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as Mark Pomerantz, an attorney who helped with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “get Trump” case.

“These are people that are bad people,” Trump said. “What they’ve ripped down is incalculable.”

The president also decried Norm Eisen and his group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW backed the attempt to kick Trump off Colorado’s ballot in 2024, and Eisen’s other groups have been engaging in anti-Trump lawfare across the country.

“He’s been after me for nine years,” Trump said. “He’s been vicious and violent.”

Bondi introduced Trump at the DOJ, saying federal law enforcement is “so proud to work” under the president. “He will never stop fighting for us, and we will never stop fighting for him and for our country,” Bondi said.

Trump vowed to “expose” the “egregious crimes and severe misconduct” of federal officials. “We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. … It’s going to be legendary.”

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.