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Buried among the many executive actions taken in the first three weeks of the new Trump administration is a Feb. 5 memo, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, that must have Russian, Chinese, and even Iranian officials cheering.
It seems, at first glance, like a routine directive, addressed to “all department employees,” titled “General Policy Regarding Charging, Plea Negotiations, and Sentencing.” But then on Page 4 of the five-page document, under the heading “Shifting Resources in the National Security Division,” comes this passage:
To free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion, the Foreign Influence Task Force shall be disbanded.
It adds that prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act “shall be limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.”
In other words, if you’re a foreign agent peddling disinformation, covertly lobbying U.S. officials, or trying to influence American elections, you’re now welcome to do your damnedest.
The new policy also eliminated a more specialized task force that seized millions of dollars’ worth of Russian yachts and other assets.
Donald Trump’s motive is clear: It was this task force, or something like it, that investigated Russia’s attempt to influence his own elections in the last three presidential races—as well as possible connections between Moscow and his campaign. (Hence the reference to ending the “weaponization” of the Justice Department, a term Trump frequently uses to describe efforts to prosecute criminals that have any relation to himself.)
However, the effect of the decree will be to give foreign agents and influencers—all but “traditional” spies—a free pass.
This comes at a time when disinformation campaigns, especially by Russia, China, and Iran, are increasingly widespread, infiltrative, sophisticated—and the subject of high-level concern.
The funds to counter foreign influence will now be redirected “to combat the flood of illegal immigration,” the memo states.
The special group going after Russian oligarchs’ assets, nicknamed Task Force KleptoCapture, was created by President Joe Biden in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the much larger Foreign Influence Task Force, ironically, was created during Trump’s first term, in the wake of U.S. intelligence findings that Russia had tried to use social media and other instruments to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.
Abolishing the task force may bolster many people’s suspicions that Trump does have ties to Russia, or make them wonder whether the move has anything to do with Elon Musk’s well-known commercial ties to China. Some have also noted that, before becoming attorney general, Bondi worked for a law firm that did lobbying work for the government of Qatar.
Whatever the impact on perceptions, it is clear—as is the case with many of the executive orders—that Trump & Co. don’t care. Everything they are doing, they are doing out in the open, in clear daylight. The question, all around, is whether anyone can stop it.
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