Internal FBI emails, obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley and reported by The New York Post on June 18, 2025, suggest Biden-era prosecutors actively sought to build additional charges against former President Donald Trump.
Their focus: a song he recorded with the January 6 Prisoner Choir.
The song, titled “Justice for All,” was a symbolic gesture of support for individuals detained after the Capitol protests. Many conservatives saw it as an expression of free speech.
Instead of viewing it as protected political activity, some in the Department of Justice saw it as an opening to expand their legal case against Trump.
According to the emails, DOJ prosecutor J.P. Cooney urged staff to investigate Trump’s connection to the choir, citing a single Forbes article as a lead.
There was no formal complaint, no allegation of lawbreaking, just a politically charged narrative – yet prosecutors were told to “nail down Trump’s role.”
This isn’t the first example of questionable legal priorities.
Earlier this month, the DOJ dropped its lawsuit against former Trump adviser Peter Navarro. Navarro had been accused of using a private email account for official duties, a serious claim under federal recordkeeping laws.
The case was dropped without explanation, just weeks after he began serving a separate sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
The inconsistency is striking. Why aggressively pursue a case over a political song while quietly dropping one involving official records? I think we have a bit of an idea.
This concern isn’t just theory.
A 2022 study in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology found that partisan alignment can affect prosecution decisions. During times of political polarization, individuals tied to the opposition party were more likely to face charges.
That study matches what many Americans are now seeing in real time.
The broader January 6 investigation has resulted in over 1,200 prosecutions, but no peer-reviewed legal analysis has found grounds for prosecuting Trump for his connection to the choir song.
The DOJ’s interest in doing so appears to rest not on the law, but on optics.
Public trust is suffering. When justice appears selective, Americans lose faith in the system itself.
Equal justice under law is a cornerstone of the American republic.
Prosecutors should pursue charges based on facts and evidence, not news stories or political pressure. Grassley’s release of these emails raises serious questions about how decisions were made inside the DOJ.
A fair investigation into these practices is warranted; not to settle political scores, but to restore the integrity of our institutions.
Justice should not be used as a weapon. It should be a safeguard for every citizen, regardless of party or politics.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
