Violent rhetoric from a right-wing lawyer who could be the nation's next attorney general represents the most terrifying sign that President-elect Donald Trump's administration could deliver a fatal blow to democracy, a former federal prosecutor said Thursday.
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman told MSNBC host Ana Cabrera he was deeply concerned by Mike Davis' X comments suggesting he wanted to prosecute special counsel Jack Smith and, with unspecified opponents, "to drag their dead political bodies through the streets, burn them, and throw them off the wall."
"Smith has been a public servant all his life and there is no real issue that he's committed any crimes," Litman said of the prosecutor who charged Trump with election interference and Espionage Act violations.
"This is the most concrete scary sign to date that a democratic rule of law in the Department of Justice is about to be completely bulldozed and become a tool of autocracy for Donald Trump and petty revenge."
While Davis' comment about dragging bodies through the streets includes the caveat, "Legally, politically, and financially, of course," Litman argued the words foreshadowed dark times ahead.
Litman predicted Trump will summon loyalists to the White House where, thanks to a Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling, he will enjoy what dissenters warn is the power to assassinate rivals.
"Trump is planning to completely overhaul the [Justice Department], hollow out all of the career staff and just institute a reign of terror," said Litman. "What would stop him? Nothing."
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Smith, for his part, is quietly wrapping up his federal cases, which Trump can easily kill upon his return.
On CNN, Republican commentator Lance Trover claimed Davis' words did not reflect Trump's views.
"That's not the language that you are hearing out of the president-elect's team," Trover insisted.
CNN host Jim Acosta recalled Trump's recent comment that he'd like to see former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) subjected to guns "trained on her face" and an off-color joke about past assassination attempts targeting the press.
"We did hear that kind of language from the president-elect," said Acosta. "In the final days of the campaign, he talked about guns trained on Liz Cheney's face, he talked about shooting through the media."
Davis was apparently watching CNN's coverage of his "dead political bodies" tweet and struck an unrepentant tone when he issued a response on X.
"Fact check," wrote Davis. "True."
