--- title: Bob Corker Slams Trump's Calls for Investigating Democrats description: Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker criticized President Trump for urging the U.S. Department of Justice to go after Democrats canonical: https://time.com/5009997/bob-corker-donald-trump-doj-democrats/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-03T21:40:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:06:57.200Z article:section: Politics og:title: Corker: Trump's Call to Investigate Democrats 'Undermines Our Justice System' og:description: Bob Corker criticized President Trump for urging the DOJ to go after Democrats og:url: https://time.com/5009997/bob-corker-donald-trump-doj-democrats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68e183c1eade896c/6988e496ab6d7762466b07c7/bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5101 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: Tillerson And Mattis Testify At Senate Hearing On Authorization Of Use Of Force og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Corker: Trump's Call to Investigate Democrats 'Undermines Our Justice System' twitter:description: Bob Corker criticized President Trump for urging the DOJ to go after Democrats twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68e183c1eade896c/6988e496ab6d7762466b07c7/bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bob Corker: Trump's Call to Investigate Democrats 'Undermines Our Justice System' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 3, 2017 9:40 PM UTC  Committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) looks on during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing concerning the authorizations for use of military force, October 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) looks on during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing concerning the authorizations for use of military force, October 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 3, 2017 9:40 PM UTC Tennessee Sen. [Bob Corker](http://time.com/4977185/bob-corker-donald-trump-feud-reality-show/) criticized President Trump for [urging the U.S. Department of Justice to go after Democrats,](http://time.com/5008823/donald-trump-russia-investigation-democrats/) saying it “erodes the American people’s confidence in our institutions.” The Republican lawmaker, who has [clashed with Trump](http://time.com/4973803/donald-trump-bob-corker-twitter-iran-deal/) numerous times, including when he called the White House an “adult day care center” last month, said it is important that the justice system is independent of the president. “Like me, most Americans hope that our justice system is independent and free of political interference,” Corker [said](https://twitter.com/SenBobCorker/status/926554636928061440) in a statement Friday. “President Trump’s pressuring of the Justice Department and FBI to pursue cases against his adversaries and calling for punishment before trials take place are totally inappropriate and not only undermine our justice system but erode the American people’s confidence in our institutions.” Trump has [tweeted numerous times](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926403023861141504) over the last day to ask why the Justice Department and the FBI have not investigated his former presidential opponent Hillary Clinton and other Democratic officials. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926406490763784194) Trump has called for Democratic officials to be investigated several times, but the latest insistence that the Justice Department look into, as he specifically tweeted, “the deleted E-mails, Uranium, Podesta and the Server,” marks a break in protocol for how presidents usually engage with the Justice Department, which maintains a level of independence from the White House so it can conduct investigations without political pressure. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5009997/bob-corker-donald-trump-doj-democrats/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5009997/bob-corker-donald-trump-doj-democrats/"},"headline":"Bob Corker: Trump's Call to Investigate Democrats 'Undermines Our Justice System'","datePublished":"2017-11-03T21:40:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:06:57.200Z","description":"Sen. 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