ZCZC

BFF-40

US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-TRUMP-SENATE

Top Democratic Senator warns Trump on 'path to dictatorship'
 
WASHINGTON, Sept 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The top US Democratic senator warned
Sunday that President Donald Trump's call for the Justice Department to take
action against his enemies puts America on a path to dictatorship.

Turning the agency "into an instrument that goes after his enemies, whether
they're guilty or not... is the path to a dictatorship," Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer said on CNN. "That's what dictatorships do."

Trump publicly urged his Justice Department on Saturday to take action
against his perceived enemies, the latest in a series of moves that critics
say have shattered the agency's traditional independence.

In a social media post addressing "Pam" -- apparently Attorney General Pam
Bondi -- Trump fumed over the lack of legal action against California Senator
Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.

Schiff and James are among a handful of people who have been accused by a
close Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, of
falsifying documents on mortgage applications.

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility,"
Trump said.

On Friday, Trump fired the federal prosecutor who was overseeing the probe
into James, after the attorney reportedly insisted there was insufficient
evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.

Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told staff of
his resignation via an email on Friday, the New York Times and other US media
outlets reported.

"I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits,
say so," Trump said Saturday, apparently referencing the probe into James.

Schiff and James have separately clashed with Trump in prior years, leading
investigations that the Republican president alleges were political witch
hunts.

During Trump's first term in the White House, Schiff, then a member of the US
House, led the prosecution at the president's first impeachment trial, which
was based on allegations he pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020
election.

After Trump left the White House, James brought a major civil fraud case
against him, alleging he and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth
and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or
insurance terms.

A state judge ordered Trump to pay $464 million in that suit, but a higher
court later removed the financial penalty while upholding the underlying
judgment.

BSS/AFP/BZC/2023HRS