WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement:

“Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics. After prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia reviewed the facts and recommended against charges for James Comey, Trump forced out Erik Siebert – a highly qualified U.S. Attorney with an outstanding record – because he refused to deliver the outcome Trump demanded. In his place, Trump installed one of his personal lawyers, a political loyalist with zero experience prosecuting cases anywhere, to bring the charges that career professionals had already rejected.

“This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power. Our system depends on prosecutors making decisions based on evidence and the law, not on the personal grudges of a politician determined to settle scores. By ousting a respected, independent prosecutor and replacing him with a partisan loyalist, Trump is undermining one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s offices in the country and eroding the rule of law itself.”

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