WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said his Democratic predecessors in the White House – Joe Biden and Barack Obama – have "done some very bad things" but he chose not to investigate them out of respect for the office.
“You can’t treat the presidency with disrespect,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’ve had my shot – and still do – at Joe Biden, at Hillary Clinton, at Barack Hussein Obama. I’ve had plenty of people say let’s go get them. And I said, ‘No, you can’t do that to the presidency.’”
He didn’t specific which allegations he was considering against the former presidents or Clinton, the former Democratic secretary of state he defeated to win his first term.
The Trump administration, however, has targeted a number of the president's
political enemies in his second term — though he has denied the moves were retribution.
The Trump Justice Department secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who each investigated him during his first term. Judges have dismissed those charges, but Comey was indicted a second time for allegedly threatening the president. James had won a $450 million civil case against Trump but an appeals court overturned the damages.
Trump has also called for charges against Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, who led his first impeachment. And the Justice Department launched a probe into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he frequently feuded, over renovations to the agency's building.
Trump’s comments on Oct. 7 came in response to a question about whether he expected to be impeached for a third time if Democrats win back control of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The House impeached Trump twice during his first term, the first time was for dealings with Ukraine and the second accused him of inciting the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. 2021. But the Senate acquitted him in both cases, falling short of a two-thirds majority needed for conviction that would have blocked him holding federal office again.
“I won overwhelmingly,” Trump said. “I was never worried about it.”
He accused Democrats of being eager to impeach him again without knowing precisely why. Despite the accusations, and the chance to turn the tables on his predecessors, he thought that would be inappropriate.
“I thought it was inappropriate to do so because you have to treat the office of presidency with respect,” Trump said. “They’ve done some very bad things.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he rejected investigating Biden, Obama out of 'respect' for office
