Why Trump Wants Unqualified U.S. Attorneys

Mr. Toobin is a contributing Opinion writer and the author of “The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy.”

When President Trump began his second term, he stacked the top ranks of the Justice Department — the country’s chief federal law enforcement officers — with his former private attorneys, no doubt to make sure that they would protect his own personal and political interests rather than the nation’s.

Lately, though, in a less conspicuous way, he’s playing offense as well as defense, naming United States attorneys who will pursue, and even prosecute, his enemies. The Senate will shortly decide whether to confirm three of Mr. Trump’s most astonishing — and chillingly unqualified — selections for these crucial local positions.

The president has long........

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