A Department of Justice for an Age of Conspiracy Theories

During the first term, the Justice Department relied on courtroom facts to counter baseless presidential claims, with attorneys clarifying that the president’s statements did not reflect the government’s position. In the second term, the department moved closer to allegations promoted by the president, including an “anti-weaponization” fund aimed at paying victims of “weaponization and lawfare,” referencing prosecuted January 6 insurrectionists. The fund’s framing targets the “unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago” and the “Russia-collusion hoax,” and the $1.776 billion amount appears symbolic. DOJ also posts on social media through official accounts and leaders, sharing clips and one-liners that emphasize exaggeration and outrage, helping seed and reinforce right-wing narratives in a feedback loop with influencers.

"During his first term, a pattern emerged: Trump would make a bizarre assertion (say, that Barack Obama had illegally wiretapped Trump Tower), a litigant would point to this assertion in court to cast doubt on the Justice Department's arguments, and DOJ attorneys would be forced to explain to an irritated judge that the president's statements did not actually reflect the government's position on the matter. Checking Trump's comments against what a government lawyer was willing to swear in front of a judge was a handy way of demonstrating how Trump's version of reality measured up to the truth."

"In the second term, the Justice Department no longer sets itself at a polite distance from the baseless allegations shared by the president in his late-night Truth Social posts. This week, DOJ announced an "anti-weaponization" fund of dubious legality, intended to pay back victims of "weaponization and lawfare"-an apparent reference to prosecuted January 6 insurrectionists. In language that could have been written by Trump himself, the press release derides "the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax.""

"DOJ is now very much an active participant in today's conspiracy-theory ecosystem. On X, official DOJ accounts and those of the department's leaders produce a steady stream of images, clips, and one-liners in the apparent hope of drawing in MAGA influencers. These posts, light on facts and heavy on exaggeration and outrage, echo far-fetched ideas already popular on the right and help seed new narratives-part of a give-and-take relationship in which DOJ both feeds and responds to conspiracy theories."

Read at The Atlantic