Trump targets a growing list of those he sees as disloyal

WASHINGTON — Lawyer Mark Zaid has represented a wide array of whistleblowers, both Republicans and Democrats, during multiple administrations. But it was his involvement with the whistleblower at the center of the first impeachment case against President Donald Trump that drew the president’s ire.

While at a recent wedding, Zaid learned through an interview Trump gave to the New York Post that his security clearance would be revoked, a move that could jeopardize his ability to represent officials who work on classified matters. He still has received no formal notification or explanation.

“I’m doing the same thing I have done since the day I set foot in Washington, D.C., 32 years ago,” Zaid said. “All I do is hold the administration — whoever that is, Republican or Democrat — accountable for unlawful and ethical lapses.”

“It is more than obvious that Trump is fulfilling the promises that he made and campaigned on, that he would retaliate against those who did him wrong,” he added.

Zaid is on what has become an ever-growing list of Trump’s perceived enemies. Through the first month of his administration, Trump and his allies have carried out a campaign of revenge and retribution that has little analogue in American history.

He has pulled protective details from former colleagues facing death threats from Iran. He has revoked or threatened to revoke the security clearances of President Joe Biden, members of his administration and dozens of others. His administration has taken steps to target members of the media seen as unfriendly, taken the hatchet to entire agencies perceived as too liberal, and fired or investigated government workers deemed disloyal.

Asked why he was going after the security clearances of Biden and others, Trump was characteristically blunt.

“There are people that we don’t respect,” he told reporters recently. “If there are people that we thought that were breaking the law, came very close to it, in previous years, we do it.”

Trump’s targeting of those he sees as disloyal is more intense and far-reaching than any that preceded it in American history, says Nicole Hemmer, an associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University who studies the presidency. Other presidents, such as John Adams, have attacked the press. Some, such as Andrew Jackson, have investigated previous administrations, claiming they were rooting out corruption. Richard Nixon’s penchant for going after his enemies cost him the White House.

But Trump’s efforts have extended beyond high-profile individuals and stretched down into the lower ranks of government and media.

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