President Donald Trump said the Justice Department is “turning the page on four long years of corruption and weaponization.”
Trump spoke Friday when delivering remarks at the Justice Department for an event focused on fighting fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that has become an escalating problem in the United States.
Trump said during the Biden administration, the DOJ was weaponized against political opponents, and “set loose violent criminals and went after patriotic parents.”
After being targeted by a string of Justice Department investigations during the Biden administration, Trump vowed to make the department less political and focus on fighting violent crime, including fighting illegal drug cartels.
Trump said the Biden Justice Department “broke the law on a colossal scale.”
“In the end, truth won and freedom won,” Trump said.
However, Trump’s Democrats in Congress have insisted that Trump is likely to weaponize the Justice Department to retaliate against political foes.
Trump called for an investigation into what he considered vast corruption in the DOJ duirng the Biden years.
“Now, as the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred,” Trump said.
Trump talked about the targeting of parents speaking out at school board meetings, as well as the targeting of traditional Catholic churches.
But also lamented what has happened to him over the Biden years.
“They spied on my campaign, launched one hoax and disinformation operation after another, broke the law, persecuted my family, staff and supporters; raided my home at Mar-a-Lago; and did everything in their power to prevent me from becoming the president of the United States,” Trump said.
“But in the end, the thugs failed, and the truth won. Freedom won, justice won, the democracy one, and the American people won.”
Trump announced the major new FBI building that was planned to be constructed in Maryland will not happen. Instead, he said, it would be a smaller former Department of Commerce building in Washington, replacing the famous J. Edgar Hoover building as the headquarters.
“Under Director [Kash] Patel we’re getting the FBI agents out of the headquarters in Washington, D.C. and back on the streets in pursuit of criminals, where they belong and where they want to be,” the president said.
“We are going to build an FBI headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state, but that has no bearing on what I’m about to say. We’re going to stop it, not going to let that happen,” he continued.
Trump said he told Patel, “we’re going to get a great building built, a magnificent building.”
“He said ‘sir, we don’t need that kind of room. … I’m just going to take an old Department of Commerce building that’s about 25% the size,’” Trump said, quoting Patel.
He said Patel told him: “We are going to have the best staff. It’s in a nice location. But I don’t need that big building. Why don’t you just sell the site to someone? We’re going to be very happy.”
Trump said that the Biden administration presided over the largest violent crime spike “in many, many decades” and that a lot had to do with the illegal immigrants that entered, who were allowed in “by the millions.”
“They make our killers look nice by comparison,” Trump said. “These are rough, tough people with tattoos all over their faces.”
“In major cities like New York, Chicago and Washington, mothers can’t walk their children to the park without fear of being shot, or killed, or raped,” Trump said.
“Women can’t ride the subway without worrying a hoodlum will shove them onto the train tracks in New York. It’s happened twice in the last couple of weeks. They’re standing there, a Wall Street gentleman in one case, the other a worker, a good worker, electrician, gets pushed into a train going 45 miles an hour.”
Trump noted that as a New Yorker, he knows the subway stations well, and that used to use them as a child.
“Under the Biden regime, average monthly homicides increased by 14%, property crime rose tremendously, violent crime went up at least 37% that they know of, rape soared by 42%, car theft by rose by 48%, and robberies surged by 63% to 100%. They don’t even know what the number is.”
“I have no higher mission as president of the United States than to end this killing and stop this lawbreaking and make America safe again,” Trump said. “And that’s what you’re all about.”
Trump did note the DOJ had a strong tradition and was “one of America’s most revered institutions.”
“The men and women of the DOJ brought down the Mafia, hunted down the killers, kingpins and spies, tracked down terrorists and traitors, and tore down corrupt political machines all across America,” the president said.
Under Attorney General Pam Bondi and Patel, he added, “you’ll soon be the most admired and most respected of all.”
Trump said that “Just before I came here, I got some pretty good news” regarding reaching a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“We’ve had some very good calls today with Russia and with Ukraine, who have agreed for a ceasefire, and if we can get it with Russia, and it’s not easy, it’s a tough one,” Trump said. “I think we’re doing it.”
In the three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Trump noted that millions were killed, and if he hadn’t stepped in, the war could go on for years and millions more would be killed.
“We are looking for a ceasefire from Russia and we’ve had some very good responses,” Trump said.
He added: “I think we have it. But this could lead to World War III very easily.”
This is a breaking news article and it may be updated
