WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to today’s indictment by the Trump administration of former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, released the following statement.

“Donald Trump has ordered the criminal prosecutions of political targets, and the Department of Justice is corruptly obeying. This puts the safety of every American and our national security itself in danger. This indictment has all the hallmarks of a vindictive and meritless prosecution, worthy only of the totalitarian states the United States used to oppose.

“Republican and Democratic administrations had already rejected these claims against James Comey. Career prosecutors have, reportedly, again concluded there is no probable cause for prosecuting him. Yet the Trump Administration has continued anyway, trampling over Comey’s rights and the rule of law. Trump even fired a prosecutor he had recently appointed who refused to bring charges against James Comey and others he targeted for retribution. Then he installed one of his own personal lawyers to push ahead anyway.

“But this matters far beyond James Comey. It’s about every citizen’s right to live free from persecution by their own leaders. Criticizing our leaders is a fundamental right, regardless of how much our leaders don’t like it.

“This is an authoritarian attack on law and order unworthy of our nation and the American legacy we have inherited. We must say so, in one voice.”

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.