--- title: Donald Trump Keeps Attacking Republicans for Being Partisan description: President Trump has stepped up attacks on the Justice Department and FBI, accusing top officials of bias against Republicans. canonical: https://time.com/5130639/donald-trump-justice-department-fbi-republicans/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-02T18:01:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:07.105Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Keeps Attacking Investigators for Being Partisan. But They're Actually Republicans og:description: From Robert Mueller to his own appointees og:url: https://time.com/5130639/donald-trump-justice-department-fbi-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0171f05128cc37fe/6988f98d0a4a223ed99d1894/gettyimages-901079896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Keeps Attacking Investigators for Being Partisan. But They're Actually Republicans twitter:description: From Robert Mueller to his own appointees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0171f05128cc37fe/6988f98d0a4a223ed99d1894/gettyimages-901079896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Keeps Attacking Investigators for Being Partisan. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f3fded01-3a9d-4542-8ea8-bfff78b648e5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Trump Administration Allowed a Sanctioned Russian Spy Chief to Meet With Intelligence Officials in the U.S. [Watch (HLS stream): The Trump Administration Allowed a Sanctioned Russian Spy Chief to Meet With Intelligence Officials in the U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/psumiAgX.m3u8) (0:57)  _Published 2018-01-31. The Trump administration let a top Russian spy official visit the United States last week for meetings with U.S. intelligence officials even though there are sanctions against him that typically prohibit such visits, officials said Tuesday._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 2, 2018 6:01 PM UTC  President Trump and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III President Trump and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III Jabin Botsford, Win McNamee—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 2, 2018 6:01 PM UTC President Trump has [stepped up attacks on the Justice Department and FBI](http://time.com/5130167/donald-trump-tweet-nunes-memo/?xid=homepage), accusing top officials of bias against Republicans in a Friday morning tweet. “The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans,” he wrote. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/959389424806191104) Speaking briefly to reporters in the White House, he [repeated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-on-newly-declassified-gop-memo-alleging-fbi-abuses-a-lot-of-people-should-be-ashamed-of-themselves/2018/02/02/41863b62-083a-11e8-aa61-f3391373867e%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.e186618890ba) that message, citing a memo written by House Republicans which criticizes the FBI investigation of Trump campaign advisor [Carter Page](http://time.com/5128614/carter-page-gop-memo-fisa-warrant/). “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. In the past, Trump has been more specific about exactly which people in the FBI and the Justice Department he dislikes. But while he’s often argued that they are acting politically, many of the officials on the receiving end of his criticism are, in fact, Republicans or were appointed by Republican presidents. Here’s a look at the political affiliations of five people Trump has charged with bias. ## James Comey  Former FBI Director, James Comey appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. Matt McClain—The Washington Post/Getty Images Trump fired Comey as FBI Director last year, citing his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and also invoking the FBI’s Russia investigation. Comey served in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush and was appointed to lead the FBI by President Barack Obama in 2013\. In Capitol Hill testimony in 2016, Comey said, “I have been a registered Republican for most of my adult life,” but that he is no longer affiliated. ## Christopher Wray  Christopher Wray testifies on his nomination to be Director of the FBI before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C. on July 12, 2017. Ron Sachs—picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images Wray replaced Comey as FBI director and has recently found himself crosswise with the president over whether or not to release [the GOP’s controversial Nunes memo](http://time.com/5128772/trump-nunes-memo-release/#d70876f5-3b56-4489-8eba-49cadc10bd3a). The White House is worried Wray will quit if Trump decides to release the memo, [CNN reports](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/politics/white-house-worried-wray-nunes-memo/index.html). Wray served in the Justice Department under Bush and is a registered Republican, who has donated money to Republicans over the years, including presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain, [NJ.com reports](http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/06/a%5Fwhite-collar%5Fatlanta%5Flawyer%5Fand%5Fformer%5Fdoj%5Foffic.html), ## Robert Mueller  FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee focusing on the oversight of the FBI July 28, 2010 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Alex Wong—Getty Images One of the leading targets of Trump’s ire, Mueller is now the special counsel overseeing an independent investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his aides. [The New York _Times_ recently reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-mueller-special-counsel-russia.html) that Trump tried to have Mueller fired in 2017\. Mueller became the head of the FBI under Bush, and [the Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/07/30/fbi-nominee-lauded-for-tenacity/e2012e09-379e-479f-8bd3-8c2aef36152a/?utm%5Fterm=.4805e5296320) at the time that he was a registered Republican. ## Jeff Sessions  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice on Dec. 15, 2017 in Washington, DC Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images Trump has reportedly been furious with his own attorney general since [Sessions recused himself](http://time.com/4689877/recuses-meaning-jeff-sessions-donald-trump/) from matters related to the 2016 campaign or Russia, which tipped off a chain of events that led to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. But Sessions is arguably the most political and conservative member of this group. A longtime Republican senator from Alabama, Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump’s candidacy and became one of his top campaign surrogates. ## Rod Rosenstein  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies during a Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's proposed FY18 budget on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Zach Gibson—Getty Images Zach Gibson—Getty Images After Sessions recused himself, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein became the top person at the Justice Department overseeing the Russia investigation. He is a registered Republican, but he’s served nearly three decades at the Justice Department under five different administrations and [earned the respect](http://time.com/4777259/rod-rosenstein-justice-trump-russia/) of members of both parties. ## Transcript Just this morning, the Russian Embassy tweeted that the head of Russia's foreign intelligence Sergey [ UNKNOWN ], a man under sanction by the United States, was in our country meeting with his US counterparts. The Trump administration must immediately come clean and answer questions. Which U. S. officials did he meet with? Did any White House or National Security Council official meet with Nurishkin? What did they discuss? Surely, he didn't come alone, so which other sanctioned Russian intelligence agency figures Has the Trump administration led into our country. And most important, is his visit, why the Trump administration decided to forego sanctions? 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