Donald Trump has not only been grumbling about Attorney General Pam Bondi, but several other top U.S. prosecutors over the slow progress of his revenge tour.
The president, at a White House photo shoot last Thursday, told the group of attorneys from around the country that they were weak and were being ineffective in targeting some of his perceived political enemies, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The event apparently grew awkward after Bondi introduced the attorneys. Trump, 79, jumped at the chance to tell them that they were negatively affecting Bondi’s and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s ability to fulfill their job duties.
Trump specifically complained that California Sen. Adam Schiff, 65, hadn’t been indicted, people familiar with his comments said. The Justice Department has been investigating the prominent anti-Trump Democrat for alleged mortgage fraud, which he denies.
During the exchange, Trump also singled out prosecutors, claiming he felt betrayed by them, according to the report.
The Justice Department referred questions about the matter to the White House, which didn’t immediately respond to a Daily Beast inquiry.
Trump’s dissatisfaction with prosecutors extends to Bondi herself, the Journal reported on Monday. The president has occasionally confronted Bondi about how prosecutions of his perceived rivals, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, haven’t been going smoothly.
A federal judge late last year tossed those two indictments, ruling that Trump had illegally appointed Lindsey Halligan, the inexperienced attorney who obtained them. The government is appealing that decision. In the meantime, it failed to convince two other grand juries to indict Letitia James.
Trump is also upset about Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to that report, as well as investigations into his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Trump’s impatience may have been quelled a bit over the weekend, when it was revealed that the Justice Department was investigating Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over his congressional testimony about the central bank’s building renovation. Trump, who has been fighting Powell on interest rates, insisted he knew nothing about the investigation before it became public.
