Dan Bongino Warns Obama After DOJ Comments Spark Firestorm
Dan Bongino Warns Obama After DOJ Comments Spark Firestorm
Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino issued a pointed warning to former President Barack Obama this week after the 44th president criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the Department of Justice, escalating an already intensifying political and legal battle over the alleged weaponization of federal law enforcement.
The dispute erupted after Obama appeared for an interview with noted anti-Trump late-night host Stephen Colbert, where he accused President Donald Trump of improperly directing prosecutions against political opponents.
Advertisement
“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”
Obama’s remarks came amid growing controversy surrounding the Justice Department’s recent indictments and investigations involving several longtime Trump critics, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
But Bongino responded forcefully during a public appearance this week, suggesting Obama himself could face scrutiny over actions tied to the Russia investigation and broader allegations of political weaponization during the 2016 transition period.
“What was with the tweet — the shock to my core? Well, in case you missed it, some of you may have, I’m gonna tell ya,” Bongino said. “Because what Barack Obama said the other day — was it Colbert’s show? No. No, no. We’re not doing that. You know, I know things too, Mr. President.”
“And I’m not letting you get away with this. No chance,” he added.
Bongino did not specify what information he was referencing, but his comments immediately fueled speculation among Trump allies that additional investigations tied to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe could be forthcoming.
The remarks came just hours after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly rejected Obama’s accusations that the Justice Department is being politicized under Trump.
In an interview with CBS News, Blanche described Democratic criticism of the administration’s prosecutions as “extraordinarily rich,” arguing that Trump himself faced years of investigations and criminal prosecutions under the Biden administration.
“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said.
Blanche defended the administration’s authority under Article II of the Constitution, arguing that executive power is vested in the president and that the White House is entitled to direct policy priorities within the Justice Department.
“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America.’ It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side,” Blanche said while holding up a copy of the Constitution during the interview.
The Justice Department has faced mounting scrutiny following a series of aggressive investigations into Trump opponents and former officials.
Comey was recently indicted in North Carolina over a 2025 social media post showing seashells arranged to read “86 47,” which prosecutors allege constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey has denied intending violence and said he removed the post after realizing some interpreted it as threatening.
Meanwhile, earlier indictments against Comey and Letitia James tied to separate investigations were previously dismissed after a federal judge ruled that the interim prosecutor overseeing those cases had been improperly appointed.
Conservatives have increasingly pushed back against Obama’s comments by revisiting allegations surrounding the origins of the Russia investigation during the 2016 transition period.
Mollie Hemingway sharply criticized Obama during a television appearance this week, accusing the former president of helping orchestrate what she described as the “Russia collusion hoax.”
“It’s actually reprehensible commentary from the man who instigated the Russia collusion hoax,” Hemingway said. “He refused to accept his loss. And so he orchestrated this entire effort to run a coup against the incoming president.”
Clarence Thomas Blasts Supreme Court For Refusing Florida Case
Florida argued the two states were undermining public safety by allowing individuals without legal immigration status — and, in some cases, insufficient English-language proficiency — to obtain commercial trucking licenses despite federal standards intended to govern interstate transportation safety.
The dispute gained national attention after a deadly 2025 crash on the Florida Turnpike involving an undocumented truck driver reportedly licensed through California or Washington.
According to the lawsuit, the driver allegedly made an illegal U-turn and was unable to properly interpret roadway signage, resulting in a collision that killed three people.
Joined by Justice Samuel Alito, Thomas argued the high court had a constitutional obligation to hear the interstate dispute because Florida had no other legal forum available to challenge another state’s policies.
The court’s majority denied Florida’s request without explanation.
The case underscores the growing national clash over immigration enforcement, state licensing authority, and whether states with looser immigration policies are creating broader public safety consequences for the rest of the country.
Thomas ripped the majority for refusing to hear the lawsuit since disputes between states can only be brought before the Supreme Court.
“If this Court does not exercise jurisdiction over a controversy between two States, then the complaining State has no judicial forum in which to seek relief,” Thomas wrote.
Thomas argued that Florida’s allegations against California and Washington raised serious public safety concerns, warning that failures to properly follow federal commercial driver licensing (CDL) laws can create dangerous conditions on American roadways.
Thomas pointed to the fatal Florida highway crash involving truck driver Harjinder Singh, who he said “could not read the road signs,” and argued Florida deserved a chance to pursue its claims.
Two blue states – California and Washington – issued Singh a CDL.
“An illegal alien who cannot read English road signs cannot drive an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer,” Thomas wrote.
“Federal law and regulations prohibit States from providing commercial driver’s licenses to applicants unless they pass a driver’s test, sufficiently understand the English language, and show appropriate immigration status,” he added.
Thomas argued that while the Supreme Court of the United States may have broad discretion when deciding whether to hear ordinary appeals, disputes between states occupy a different category because the Constitution grants the high court exclusive jurisdiction over those cases.
“We have no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction which is given, than to usurp that which is not given,” Thomas wrote.
He also accused the court of failing to follow the Constitution by refusing to hear disputes between states.
“This Court has adopted a discretionary approach to its exclusive original jurisdiction based on policy judgments that are in conflict with the policy choices that Congress made in the statutory text,” Thomas wrote.
Thomas argued that if Florida, California, and Washington were separate sovereign nations rather than American states, a dispute involving one government allegedly allowing unsafe drivers into another jurisdiction could trigger major diplomatic conflict.
Thomas suggested that in an international context, such disputes would likely be addressed through international courts, treaties, or direct government action.
“By entering the Union, States agree to instead have such disputes resolved by this Court,” he wrote.
The issuance of commercial driver’s licenses to non-citizens came under increased scrutiny from the Department of Transportation last summer following a series of deadly crashes involving undocumented immigrant truck drivers.
Last September, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced stricter federal requirements for non-citizens seeking commercial driver’s licenses, part of a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten transportation and immigration enforcement standards, Fox News reported.
Duffy also warned that California could risk losing federal transportation funding if the state continued allowing commercial licenses to remain active for individuals deemed ineligible under revised federal guidelines.
