Former President Barack Obama apparently wants Americans to believe he’s the patron saint of DOJ independence now.
That was the vibe during his cozy sit-down with late-night host Stephen Colbert, where Obama warned that presidents should never use the Justice Department to target political enemies — a remarkable concern coming from the same political orbit that gave America years of “Russia collusion” hysteria.
“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants prosecuted,” Obama declared. He added that “the awesome power of the state” should never be used to punish enemies or reward allies.
Cue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entering the chat with the political equivalent of a folding chair to the back.
“The Russia collusion hoax would like a word,” DeSantis posted on X.
Game over.
That’s the thing about DeSantis. While other Republicans spend three paragraphs trying to workshop a comeback, the Florida governor slices through the noise with one clean hit and moves on. No long-winded TED Talk. No consultant-approved word salad. Just a direct reminder of the giant elephant Democrats keep pretending never existed.
Obama also insisted during the interview that America “can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system” and argued the attorney general should be “the people’s lawyer and not the president’s consigliere.”
That line might’ve landed harder if Americans hadn’t spent years watching federal agencies chase the Trump-Russia narrative like it was the Zapruder film.
The FBI launched its counterintelligence probe into Trump campaign ties to Russia back in 2016, and the drama consumed Washington for years. Cable news treated every anonymous leak like Watergate II. Blue-check pundits practically started speaking in Cyrillic. Then came Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which found “multiple links” between Trump associates and Russians — but notably did not establish that the Trump campaign “coordinated or conspired” with the Russian government.
Small detail.
More recently, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has thrown gasoline back on the fire, accusing Obama-era intelligence officials of politicizing intelligence tied to the 2016 election aftermath. Gabbard alleged there is “irrefutable evidence” that senior officials pushed a narrative they knew was misleading in order to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has also claimed that a January 2017 intelligence assessment became the foundation for what critics describe as a years-long campaign against Trump after his election victory. Critics, meanwhile, have disputed Gabbard’s allegations and maintain the original intelligence findings were legitimate.
But politically, Obama’s comments handed DeSantis an easy fastball. Because for millions of voters, hearing Democrats suddenly discover the dangers of weaponized government feels a little like hearing an arsonist lecture the neighborhood about fire safety.
And DeSantis knew exactly how to answer it. No filibuster required.
