Abuse-of-Power

Trump Criticizes Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar for Not Switching Parties After Pardon

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump publicly attacks Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar for remaining in the Democratic Party and running for re-election as a Democrat, just days after Trump pardoned Cuellar and his wife from federal bribery and conspiracy charges. Trump’s statements—calling Cuellar’s …

Donald Trump Henry Cuellar DOJ pardons quid-pro-quo corruption congress party-switching +1 more
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DOJ Admits Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment; Trump's Former Personal Attorney Leading Prosecution

| Importance: 9/10

In a stunning courtroom admission during a November 19, 2025 hearing, the Justice Department acknowledged that the full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Prosecutor Tyler Lemons confirmed that only two grand jurors—the foreperson and one other …

James Comey Lindsey Halligan Michael Dreeben Judge Michael Nachmanoff Donald Trump +3 more doj-weaponization vindictive-prosecution abuse-of-power grand-jury legal-violation +2 more
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Trump Orders DOJ via Truth Social to Investigate Political Opponents Over Epstein Ties

| Importance: 9/10

On Friday, November 14, 2025, President Donald Trump used Truth Social to publicly order Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to investigate his political opponents in connection with Jeffrey Epstein, marking a brazen erosion of DOJ independence and raising profound …

Donald Trump Pamela Bondi Bill Clinton Larry Summers Reid Hoffman +2 more epstein doj abuse of power political persecution trump administration
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Rep. Lauren Boebert Summoned to White House Situation Room Over Epstein Files Petition

| Importance: 9/10

On the morning of November 12, 2025, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was summoned to the White House Situation Room for an extraordinary meeting with top Trump administration officials aimed at pressuring her to remove her name from the bipartisan discharge petition to release Jeffrey Epstein files. The …

Lauren Boebert Donald Trump Pamela Bondi Kash Patel White House +1 more epstein white house trump administration intimidation abuse of power +2 more
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DOJ Whistleblower Reveals Officials Ordered Fabrication of Terrorist Claims in Deportation Case

| Importance: 9/10

Justice Department whistleblower Erez Reuveni, a 15-year DOJ attorney, revealed in October 2025 testimony that senior officials ordered him to fabricate terrorist claims in court briefs to justify the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. Reuveni was told to argue in legal …

Erez Reuveni Emil Bove Kilmar Abrego Garcia Department of Justice Trump +1 more obstruction-of-justice false-evidence institutional-corruption abuse-of-power
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Trump Grants Qatar Unprecedented NATO-Like Security Guarantee via Executive Order

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar’ on September 29, 2025, providing Qatar with an unprecedented security guarantee stating that ’the United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical …

Donald Trump White House State of Qatar Benjamin Netanyahu executive-power executive-orders presidential-authority abuse-of-power
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Trump Administration Explores Federal Takeover of 9/11 Memorial and Museum

| Importance: 8/10

The Trump administration announced it is exploring whether the federal government can seize control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City. The White House confirmed ‘preliminary exploratory discussions’ about the takeover but declined to elaborate. During a 2024 campaign …

Trump Michael Bloomberg Kathy Hochul Port Authority of New York and New Jersey institutional-capture abuse-of-power historical-revisionism
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President Biden Issues Full Pardon for Son Hunter Despite Repeated Promises Not To

| Importance: 8/10

President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter Biden covering all potential federal crimes from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, reversing repeated public promises not to interfere. The pardon covers Hunter’s June conviction for lying on gun purchase forms while …

Joe Biden Hunter Biden David Weiss Department of Justice presidential-pardon family-enrichment obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power
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Trump's Final Day Pardon Spree - 73 Pardons Including Bannon and Broidy

| Importance: 9/10

In his final hours as president, Donald Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations—143 acts of clemency in a single day, overwhelming the typical pardon process and demonstrating systematic corruption of executive power. The pardons went almost exclusively to political allies, campaign donors, and …

Donald Trump Steve Bannon Elliott Broidy Ken Kurson Paul Manafort +2 more pardons corruption abuse-of-power fraud pay-to-play
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Jeffrey Clark Attempts DOJ Coup to Overturn Election

| Importance: 9/10

Environmental lawyer Jeffrey Clark attempted to use the Department of Justice to overturn the 2020 election by sending false fraud letters to swing states. Clark drafted a letter falsely claiming DOJ had identified ‘significant concerns’ about the election and urging Georgia to convene a …

Jeffrey Clark Donald Trump Jeffrey Rosen Richard Donoghue Department of Justice constitutional-crisis institutional-capture coup-attempt january-6 kleptocracy +6 more
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Trump Pardons Charles Kushner and 14 Others in Single-Day Corruption Spree

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump pardoned his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, real estate developer Charles Kushner, along with 14 other allies in a single day, demonstrating brazen nepotism and abuse of presidential clemency power. Charles Kushner had pleaded guilty in 2004 to 18 counts of illegal campaign …

Donald Trump Charles Kushner Jared Kushner Paul Erickson Margaret Hunter +1 more pardons corruption nepotism abuse-of-power pay-to-play
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Trump Pardons Four Blackwater Contractors for Nisour Square Massacre

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump pardoned four Blackwater private military contractors convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians, including two children, in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard were serving sentences ranging from 12 years to life …

Donald Trump Erik Prince Betsy DeVos Nicholas Slatten Paul Slough +2 more pardons corruption war-crimes blackwater abuse-of-power +1 more
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Trump Pardon Corruption - Systematic Monetization of Presidential Clemency Power

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump’s systematic abuse of pardon power between 2017-2021 established a pattern of corruption that transformed constitutional clemency authority into a criminal enterprise. Analysis of Trump’s 237 pardons and commutations reveals a president who monetized executive power, …

Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Jared Kushner William Barr pardons corruption pay-to-play abuse-of-power constitutional-crisis
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Noem intervenes in daughter's denied appraiser license application

| Importance: 8/10

Days after South Dakota agency moved to deny Kassidy Peters’ real estate appraiser license application, Governor Kristi Noem summoned agency head Sherry Bren and other officials to a meeting with Peters present. Peters ultimately received certification four months later after receiving special …

Kristi Noem Kassidy Peters Sherry Bren Marcia Hultman corruption nepotism abuse-of-power kristi-noem south-dakota +1 more
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New York Times Exposes Erik Prince's Recruitment of Former Spies for Project Veritas Domestic Intelligence Operations

| Importance: 8/10

The New York Times published a detailed investigation revealing that Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, recruited former American and British intelligence officers to conduct domestic espionage operations targeting Democratic political campaigns and …

Erik Prince Richard Seddon James O'Keefe Project Veritas Betsy DeVos +2 more political-espionage institutional-capture private-intelligence political-surveillance abuse-of-power
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Bill Barr Intervenes to Reduce Sentences for Trump Allies Stone and Flynn

| Importance: 8/10

Attorney General Bill Barr personally intervened to reduce sentencing recommendations for Trump allies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, causing four career prosecutors to withdraw from Stone’s case in protest and one to resign from DOJ entirely. After prosecutors recommended 7-9 years for …

Bill Barr Roger Stone Michael Flynn Donald Trump Department of Justice obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power rule-of-law corruption politicization
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House Votes to Impeach Trump on Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress

| Importance: 10/10

The House of Representatives voted on December 18, 2019 to impeach President Donald Trump on two articles: Abuse of Power (230-197-1) and Obstruction of Congress (229-198-1), making Trump only the third president in American history to be impeached. Article I charged that Trump “solicited the …

Donald Trump Nancy Pelosi Adam Schiff House Democrats first impeachment abuse of power obstruction of congress constitutional crisis ukraine
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Sondland Testifies - "Was There a Quid Pro Quo? The Answer Is Yes. Everyone Was in the Loop."

| Importance: 10/10

EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland delivered blockbuster testimony on November 20, 2019, explicitly confirming the quid pro quo at the heart of Trump’s first impeachment and implicating the highest levels of the administration. In opening remarks that devastated Trump’s defense, Sondland …

Gordon Sondland Mike Pompeo Mike Pence Mick Mulvaney John Bolton +1 more first impeachment ukraine quid pro quo state department abuse of power
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Speaker Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry After Ukraine Revelations

| Importance: 10/10

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump on September 24, 2019, marking a historic turning point after revelations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden while withholding military aid. In a solemn address from the Speaker’s Balcony …

Nancy Pelosi Donald Trump Adam Schiff House Democrats first impeachment congressional oversight ukraine abuse of power nancy pelosi
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Trump Pressures Zelensky in Phone Call - "I Would Like You to Do Us a Favor Though"

| Importance: 10/10

President Donald Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his domestic political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during a July 25, 2019 phone call, explicitly tying U.S. military assistance to political favors in what would become the central act of his first …

Donald Trump Volodymyr Zelensky Rudy Giuliani first impeachment ukraine quid pro quo foreign interference election interference +1 more
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Devin Nunes Makes Secret Midnight White House Visit to View Intel, Then Briefs Trump Before Committee - Obstruction of Investigation

| Importance: 10/10

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes made a secret visit to the White House grounds on March 21, 2017—the night before he dramatically announced he had seen intelligence suggesting Trump associates were “incidentally collected” in surveillance. Nunes viewed classified …

Devin Nunes Donald Trump Ezra Cohen-Watnick Michael Ellis Adam Schiff obstruction-of-justice russia-investigation congressional-corruption nunes abuse-of-power
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Trump Fires Preet Bharara After Broken Promise to Keep Him - Obstruction Amid Trump-Related Investigations

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on March 11, 2017, after Bharara refused to resign when ordered to do so—breaking Trump’s direct promise made just months earlier at Trump Tower to allow Bharara to keep his position. Bharara, the highly respected U.S. Attorney for the Southern …

Donald Trump Preet Bharara Marc Kasowitz Jeff Sessions Roger Ailes +1 more obstruction-of-justice corruption abuse-of-power conflicts-of-interest fox-news
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Trump Falsely Accuses Obama of Wiretapping Trump Tower Based on "A Little Bit of a Hunch"

| Importance: 9/10

On March 4, 2017, President Trump tweeted a series of explosive and completely false accusations that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower “just before the victory.” Trump claimed he had “just found out” about the wiretapping but provided …

Donald Trump Barack Obama James Clapper James Comey disinformation obama-attacks authoritarianism false-accusations abuse-of-power
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Dennis Hastert Sentenced to 15 Months, Judge Calls Him 'Serial Child Molester'

| Importance: 10/10

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine by U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, who described him as a “serial child molester” during an emotional sentencing hearing. Though Hastert was only charged with …

Dennis Hastert Thomas Durkin Scott Cross congressional corruption sexual abuse cover-up republican party political accountability +2 more
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Maine Governor LePage Threatens to Withhold School Funding to Block Political Opponent's Hiring

| Importance: 7/10

Maine Governor Paul LePage threatened to withhold $500,000 in state funding from Good Will-Hinckley, a nonprofit charter school serving at-risk youth, to force the organization to rescind a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. Good Will-Hinckley had announced on June 9, 2015 that it …

Paul LePage Mark Eves Good Will-Hinckley abuse-of-power institutional-capture political-corruption executive-overreach retribution +1 more
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Trump Admits to Entering Pageant Dressing Rooms on Howard Stern

| Importance: 7/10

In a Howard Stern radio interview, Donald Trump admits to deliberately entering Miss Universe and Miss USA dressing rooms while contestants were undressed, stating: ‘I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant… You know, they’re standing there with no …

Donald Trump Howard Stern sexual-misconduct pageants abuse-of-power
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Nixon Top Aides Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell Sentenced to Prison for Watergate Cover-up

| Importance: 9/10

On February 21, 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2.5 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up. All three men had been convicted of every count against them—a total of 14 felonies …

H.R. Haldeman John Ehrlichman John N. Mitchell John Sirica watergate obstruction-of-justice accountability institutional-corruption abuse-of-power
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Nixon Releases Smoking Gun Tape Under Supreme Court Order, Political Support Collapses Completely

| Importance: 10/10

Under order from the Supreme Court’s unanimous July 24 decision in United States v. Nixon, President Nixon released the tape recording of his June 23, 1972 conversation with Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman on August 5, 1974. The tape provided irrefutable proof that Nixon had ordered the CIA to …

Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman House Judiciary Committee Republican Party watergate obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power institutional-corruption accountability-failure
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House Judiciary Committee Approves Three Articles of Impeachment Against President Nixon

| Importance: 9/10

On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommended that President Richard M. Nixon be impeached and removed from office, adopting Article I (Obstruction of Justice) by a vote of 27-11 at 7:07pm in Room 2141 of the Rayburn Office Building. The first article charged Nixon with engaging in a …

House Judiciary Committee Peter Rodino Robert McClory Richard Nixon watergate congressional-oversight obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power impeachment
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Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon Fires Special Prosecutor Cox, Richardson and Ruckelshaus Resign in Protest

| Importance: 10/10

On Saturday evening, October 20, 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been appointed on May 18, 1973, to investigate Watergate and had refused Nixon’s “Stennis Compromise” proposal the previous …

Richard Nixon Archibald Cox Elliot Richardson William Ruckelshaus Robert Bork +1 more watergate obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power institutional-corruption constitutional-crisis
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Alexander Butterfield Reveals Nixon White House Secret Taping System in Bombshell Testimony

| Importance: 10/10

On July 13, 1973, Alexander Butterfield—who had served as deputy assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973—was questioned in a background interview by Senate Watergate Committee staff members prior to his public testimony. Butterfield was brought before the committee because he was H.R. …

Alexander Butterfield Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman Donald Sanders Fred Thompson +1 more watergate surveillance congressional-oversight abuse-of-power institutional-corruption
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John Dean Testifies to Senate Watergate Committee: "Cancer Growing on the Presidency"

| Importance: 10/10

On June 25, 1973, recently fired White House Counsel John Dean began week-long testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, starting with a 245-page opening statement that took six hours to read. Dean testified that he had told President Nixon: “I began by …

John Dean Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman John Ehrlichman Howard Baker +1 more watergate congressional-oversight obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power institutional-corruption
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Senate Watergate Committee Begins Televised Hearings, Exposing Presidential Crimes to Public

| Importance: 9/10

On May 17, 1973, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities—commonly known as the Senate Watergate Committee—opened televised public hearings into the Watergate scandal. Chaired by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, with Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee as vice chairman, the …

Sam Ervin Howard Baker Senate Watergate Committee Richard Nixon watergate congressional-oversight institutional-corruption abuse-of-power transparency
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Judge Sirica Uses Maximum Sentences to Break Watergate Cover-up, McCord Writes Explosive Letter

| Importance: 9/10

U.S. District Judge John Joseph Sirica, known as “Maximum John” for giving defendants the stiffest sentences guidelines allowed, presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars with deep skepticism about their claims of acting alone. Sirica employed an innovative strategy of …

John Sirica James W. McCord Jr. G. Gordon Liddy John Dean John N. Mitchell watergate obstruction-of-justice judicial-oversight institutional-corruption abuse-of-power
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CREEP Dirty Tricks Campaign Exposed: Segretti Orchestrates Political Sabotage Including Canuck Letter

| Importance: 8/10

Donald Henry Segretti, hired by his friend Dwight L. Chapin (Nixon’s appointments secretary), ran an extensive campaign of political sabotage against Democratic candidates throughout 1972, with his work paid for by Nixon’s lawyer Herbert Kalmbach from presidential campaign funds. …

Donald Segretti Dwight L. Chapin Ken W. Clawson Herbert Kalmbach Edmund Muskie +1 more watergate electoral-manipulation disinformation institutional-corruption abuse-of-power
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Smoking Gun Tape: Nixon Orders CIA to Block FBI Watergate Investigation

| Importance: 10/10

Just six days after the Watergate break-in, President Richard Nixon met with his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office from 10:04am to 11:39am to discuss damage control. During this conversation—secretly recorded by Nixon’s own voice-activated taping system—the President ordered …

Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman Vernon Walters L. Patrick Gray CIA +1 more watergate obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power intelligence-agencies institutional-corruption
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Five Burglars Arrested Breaking into Democratic National Committee Headquarters at Watergate Complex

| Importance: 10/10

In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, Washington D.C. police arrested five men inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. Security guard Frank Wills had discovered tape over door locks and called police, who caught the burglars preparing to install …

James W. McCord Jr. E. Howard Hunt G. Gordon Liddy Bernard Barker Eugenio Martinez +2 more watergate abuse-of-power obstruction-of-justice institutional-corruption intelligence-agencies
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White House Plumbers Break Into Daniel Ellsberg Psychiatrist Office Seeking Pentagon Papers Dirt

| Importance: 9/10

In September 1971, the White House Special Investigations Unit—mockingly known as the “Plumbers” because their mission was to stop leaks—broke into the Los Angeles office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers exposing government lies …

E. Howard Hunt G. Gordon Liddy Chuck Colson John Ehrlichman Egil Krogh +2 more watergate abuse-of-power intelligence-agencies institutional-corruption whistleblower-retaliation
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