“Why aren’t they going after them?” President Donald Trump would ask of Justice Department officials, referring to his political nemesis Hillary Clinton and former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey, according to a New York Times report published earlier this week. According to the report — which cites numerous government officials briefed on White House matters — Trump wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton and Comey.
The president was reportedly warned against the political and other repercussions such a maneuver would inevitably generate by then-White House Counsel Don McGahn who, along with other White House lawyers, authored a memo for President Trump, arguing that ordering the prosecution of Comey and Clinton would not only be viewed as an abuse of power, but could also lead to his impeachment.