During a tense sit-down on CBS’s 60 Minutes, President Donald Trump pushed back on claims that he’s using the Justice Department to settle political scores.
Host Norah O’Donnell didn’t hold back, pointing out that several of Trump’s outspoken critics had recently been indicted. “James Comey, John Bolton, Letitia James were all recently indicted,” she said. “There is a pattern to these names. They’re all public figures who have publicly denounced you. Is it political retribution?”
Trump immediately brushed off the idea. “You know who got indicted? The man you’re lookin’ at,” he said. “I got indicted, and I was innocent. And here I am, because I was able to beat all of the nonsense that was thrown at me. And yet, when you go after a dirty cop like Comey or a guy like Bolton, who I hear has — I don’t know anything about it — I hear he took records all over the place, who knows? Letitia James is a terrible, dishonest person in my opinion.”
When O’Donnell asked directly if he had instructed the Justice Department to go after them, Trump denied it. “No, and not in any way, shape, or form. No,” he said. “You don’t have to instruct ’em because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt, that the honest people we have — Pam Bondi’s doing a very good job. Kash Patel’s doing a very good job. The honest people that we have go after them automatically.”
But O’Donnell didn’t let him off the hook. In a voiceover fact check, she pointed out a recent post from Trump on Truth Social that seemed to contradict his denial. “In a Truth Social post from September addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi,” O’Donnell said, “President Trump endorsed the idea that former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James were, quote, ‘Guilty as hell,’ and wrote, quote, ‘Justice must be served, now!!!’”
That post came just days before Comey and James were indicted. Both have pleaded not guilty, as has Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton.
Trump’s comments during the interview fit a familiar pattern. He dismissed the accusations, painted himself as the victim, and turned the spotlight back on his critics. Throughout the segment, he framed the DOJ’s actions as the natural result of rooting out corruption rather than political payback.
The tension between Trump and his political foes continues to play out in public view, with the Justice Department caught in the middle of an increasingly bitter fight. O’Donnell’s questioning highlighted just how blurred the lines have become between law enforcement, politics, and Trump’s ongoing influence in both.
The 60 Minutes exchange left viewers with more questions than answers, as Trump once again managed to turn controversy into a moment of defiance — and perhaps another rallying cry for his supporters.