What did Donald Trump do today?

He ordered still more "criminal" investigations into his political enemies.

Trump has spent his entire political career vowing to use the power of the state to get revenge against the people he thinks of as his enemies. During his first term, his efforts were at least partially thwarted by career prosecutors at the Justice Department and political appointees who refused to completely abandon the DOJ's tradition of independence and political neutrality. But purging the Justice Department ranks of anyone who had shown even the slightest bit of "disloyalty" to Trump was a top priority on his return to office, capped off by installing his personal defense lawyers in the top three roles.

Today, news broke that he has succeeded in getting the DOJ to open investigations into at least two more of the people on his enemies list. New York State Attorney General Letitia James is being "investigated" for successfully suing the Trump Organization for nearly a third of a billion dollars in fraud. Trump has also ginned up an investigation against California Sen. Adam Schiff, whose criticism of Trump seems to get under the skin more effectively than most. Schiff supposedly claimed two different residences as his "primary" one for mortgage purposes, although this is not in and of itself illegal or unethical.

There's a not-too-subtle thread connecting Trump's attacks on James and Schiff: the suit that James won was over Trump's illegal and deceptive valuation of his properties—telling banks they were worth a great deal while at the same time telling tax officials they were worth less. 

Last week, Trump demanded and got an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who investigated and brought federal charges against Trump for his theft of highly classified documents after leaving office, and his role in inciting a violent insurrection against Congress on Jan. 6th, 2021, in a last-ditch attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. (Trump remains liable for prosecution on those matters if and when he leaves office.)

As legal analysts noted today, essentially everything Schiff and James has done has been a matter of public record and, in the case of James's lawsuits, already approved by multiple courts. Neither is likely to result in any prosecution, but that is probably not the endgame. As a political matter, Trump benefits from any distraction from his own overwhelming association with the Epstein scandal. Ironically, given that he and those helping him break the law while in office remain liable for prosecution if and when he leaves office, he also benefits from promoting the idea that all prosecution of political figures is based in corruption. 

Trump is a convicted felon. 

Why does this matter?

• The leader using the justice system to settle personal scores is what happens in tinpot dictatorships. 

• Nobody is above the law in a democracy.