Democrats don’t want young conservatives in government, and they are threatening to use the legal system to harass those who choose to serve. That is the “deterrence” message Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) sent to college students last week, and it is just the latest disgraceful example of our parties, both of them, abusing the judicial system for political purposes.
Speaking to University of Chicago students, Slotkin said she did not want young people coming out of college to work for the Trump administration because it might be a fun opportunity. “I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that may be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, so let me avoid participating in that,’” Slotkin said. “I want that deterrence message sent.”
Message received, senator.
Challenged by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on her “absolutely disgraceful” threat, Slotkin responded, “Spare me the pearl-clutching,” justifying her statement by citing President Donald Trump’s effort to investigate her for participating in a 90-second video encouraging troops to disobey the president’s orders.
In this, she has a point: Trump has tried to use the courts to harass his political opponents. He publicly demanded prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, then installed a prosecutor who brought charges after her predecessor questioned the evidence. His administration also investigated former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in what a federal judge found was an improper attempt to pressure him into lowering interest rates.
These are all abuses of power, and they undermine democracy. Trump learned the tactic by watching Democrats. Before he went after James, she pursued a ridiculous fraud suit against him in which there was no victim and no financial damage incurred by anyone. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg proudly campaigned for election on a promise to prosecute Trump, and he followed through with an unprecedented use of an arcane bookkeeping statute to turn the legal payment of hush money to a mistress into a felony offense.
There was no merit to either of those cases. No defendant other than Trump has ever been prosecuted under these laws for similar behavior. Democrats simply decided they hated Trump and were going to use the legal system to keep him off the ballot by any means necessary. That is every bit as harmful as, if not more harmful than, what Trump did to Comey, James, and Powell.
When Bragg secured an indictment of Trump in April 2023, we warned that Republican prosecutors would respond by targeting their own political opponents. We also made clear that Democrats subjected to such treatment would not deserve it, regardless of their politics. The principle was straightforward then and remains so today: One prosecutor’s abuse does not justify another’s.
Ideally, Democrats would condemn Trump’s behavior and force Republicans to defend it to voters. Instead, Slotkin wants to escalate, using the legal system to harass not just the principal in office but anyone who works for him. That would be a huge mistake. Public service must not become a slippery slope to financial ruin whenever the opposing party takes power. Both parties need to end this cycle of retaliation before fear of prosecution becomes a qualification for serving in government.