The ACLU has listened as former President Donald Trump and his allies on the campaign trail have pledged to crack down on protesters and use the justice system to prosecute political opponents.
“Trump has not been shy about making it clear what he plans to do,” said Cecilia Wang, deputy legal director at the ACLU.
Wang and his colleagues released a memorandum on Thursday to anticipate and combat abuses of executive power in a second Trump administration.
“The memo that was just released is really about a loaded gun being left in the president's hand,” Wang said.
For the ACLU, recent history is a guide. In 2020, President Trump ordered racial justice protesters cleared from Lafayette Square while preparing for a photo op in front of a landmark Washington, D.C. church. The National Guard, federal agents and local police used tear gas and force against peaceful protesters. The ACLU has sued, accusing it of violating the First and Fourth Amendments, and Wang said the group is open to suing again.
But even before the next inauguration, the civil rights group points out that Congress can fill gaps in the president's emergency powers, and that state governors and mayors can instruct their police departments to opt out of participating in federal law enforcement task forces.
“There are many tools that the American people and their representatives in Congress and local governments can use to stop Donald Trump from trampling on people's civil rights,” Wang said.
ACLU leaders say they are particularly concerned that Trump has threatened to use the justice system to retaliate against people he sees as political opponents. Trump has said he wants to investigate Biden, his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton and several Cabinet members who have not bowed to his wishes.
“It can ruin someone's life, even if the person ultimately gets cleared of any wrongdoing,” Wang said.
This month, a conservative Supreme Court majority granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution for discussing the investigation with the Justice Department, a decision that will give future presidents great powers that would be bound only by norms adopted by the Justice Department after Watergate.
“The independence of the Department of Justice depends on the good faith and sincerity of the president and the attorney general to abide by it,” Wang said.
She said it was a mistake to give such unlimited power to a president, any president.