The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board didn’t bother with subtlety this week. Its latest broadside against Donald Trump landed with a thud — and a headline that reads like a punchline: “The Gang That Couldn’t Indict Straight.”
For a paper that has traditionally leaned right and often given Republican administrations the benefit of the doubt, this was something closer to an eye roll. The editors laid out, in blunt terms, how the administration’s attempts to prosecute Trump’s political enemies collapsed in court, arguing that “Trump’s lawfare revenge tour has gone bust” after a judge tossed the Justice Department’s cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The editorial board didn’t just critique the results — it skewered the process. According to the Journal, “in its rush for retribution, the Trump Administration cut corners.” And corners are exactly what you can’t cut when you’re trying to nail high-profile targets in federal court.
“This is what happens when officials don’t follow legal procedure. They lose cases,” the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper wrote, noting that since Trump returned to the White House in January, it has become increasingly vocal about its concerns with his governing style — especially when it comes to legal overreach and the economy.
The piece ends with a warning aimed squarely at the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi: “Trump was so eager to indict his enemies, and Attorney General Pam Bondi was so quick to go along, that it all unraveled at the pull of one legal thread,” the editors wrote, adding that any future efforts could lead to “cases that are two-time legal losers.”
Hard to miss the message there: if the administration keeps swinging for its rivals without building solid cases, it’s not just the indictments that will keep falling apart — it’s the credibility behind them.
