EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump has now threatened or investigated 20 authors who've written books critical of him.

The president is waging a systematic campaign of retribution against people who've published anti-Trump warnings, according to a new analysis.

Donald Trump claimed he’d “end the weaponization” of government. Instead he’s gone after twenty authors who’ve written books critical of him, a DEFIANCE News analysis finds.

Since returning to office in January 2025, the president has used federal prosecutors, presidential directives, and his own personal lawsuits to pursue or punish scores of different authors who’ve published books that were critical of him, according to a review conducted by DEFIANCE News, including — most recently — January 6 Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson.

The twenty documented targets span the national security establishment, the president’s own former administration, and his extended family. They include two former FBI directors, two former heads of the CIA and national intelligence, a sitting U.S. senator, a former Republican congresswoman who investigated the January 6 attack, and a niece who disclosed his finances, among others. The common thread, according to the review, is that each published an account critical of Trump.

The methods vary. Former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Adviser John Bolton have been indicted on felony charges. Comey’s case was dismissed on procedural grounds in November, and the Justice Department has since brought a new indictment over a social media post made by the former director. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has issued more than 130 subpoenas in a revived investigation into the origins of the 2016 Russia inquiry, reportedly sweeping in former officials John Brennan, James Clapper, Peter Strzok, and Andrew McCabe — all of whom had already been threatened by Trump and all of whom are authors of books critical of the president. McCabe’s attorney has called the probe “a vendetta in search of a crime.”

Most recently, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division opened a criminal investigation into Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose January 6 testimony became a 2024 memoir. The probe is said to be focused on whether she “misled” Congress in her testimony against Trump. Last year, the president also went on a blitz of stripping security clearances of critics, including singling out impeachment witnesses Alexander Vindman and Fiona Hill by executive order, both of whom had published books criticizing their former boss.

(Not long after, in April 2025, he signed a similar directive aimed at me as well, ordering a federal probe on the grounds of “treason” after the publication of my most recent book. Asked for comment, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said “[Taylor is] a sack of shit. His book either belongs in the discount bin of the fiction section or should be repurposed as toilet paper.” Since that time, nine-out-of-ten warnings in the book have come to fruition.)

After returning to office, the president also continued to advance a lawsuit he brought against journalist Bob Woodward over a book that dropped devastating revelations just ahead of the 2020 election. A judge has since thrown that case out. He’s also pursued his estranged niece, Mary Trump, in court over her highly critical books and the underlying material behind them.

Amidst the flurry of legal actions and threats against anti-Trump authors, the president and his appointees have consistently said his actions are driven by law rather than politics, with senior officials defending the president’s authority to direct the Justice Department to pursue investigations. Yet the pursuit of people who’ve written unflattering portrayals of Trump has gone from a subtle pattern to what now amounts to a systematic campaign of retribution.

One legal scholar, who I spoke to recently, said the pattern has no clean precedent beyond Richard Nixon’s secret “enemies list,” albeit with one distinction. Nixon concealed his roster of targets in an internal memo. Trump’s roster now shows up in indictments, public directives, and posts demanding the prosecution of named individuals. Indeed, never before has a White House developed such an extensive and open “blacklist” of American authors who’ve criticized the commander in chief.

In pursuing these targets, Donald Trump has proven (unintentionally, and at great expense) the oldest cliché in publishing. The pen is mightier than the sword. Yet he appears hellbent on using the latter to exact revenge.

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Authors Critical of Trump: Targets of Retribution

Tier 1 — Indicted

James Comey — A Higher Loyalty (2018), Saving Justice (2021) — Former FBI director. Indicted in September 2025 on one count of false statements to Congress and one of obstruction; case dropped. Since indicted again related to a social media post of seashells that purportedly “threatened” Trump’s life.

John Bolton — The Room Where It Happened (2020) — Former Trump national security advisor. Indicted on 18 counts over classified material allegedly contained in his diaries, although none of it is alleged to have actually ended up in his book.

Tier 2 — Under Investigation / Subpoenaed

John Brennan — Undaunted (2020) — Former CIA director. The FBI opened a criminal probe in July 2025 after Trump CIA Director Ratcliffe referred a “lessons-learned” review of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment to the Justice Department. Separately subpoenaed in the Southern District of Florida (SDFL) “grand conspiracy” probe into the origins of the Russia investigation.

James Clapper — Facts and Fears (2018) — Former Director of National Intelligence. Named alongside Brennan and Comey as “excessively involved” in drafting the 2017 assessment and swept into the SDFL Russiagate counter-investigation subpoena wave in late 2025.

Peter Strzok — Compromised (2020) — Former FBI official. Subpoenaed in November 2025 by the SDFL grand jury as the FBI’s former lead Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence agent; a perennial Trump target because of his 2016 anti-Trump texts.

Andrew McCabe — The Threat (2019) — Former acting FBI director. Subpoenaed in March 2026 in the same conspiracy probe. As noted above, his attorney, Michael Bromwich, called it “a vendetta in search of a crime.”

Adam Schiff — Midnight in Washington (2021) — U.S. Senator. Mortgage-fraud allegations sent to DOJ; the Maryland U.S. Attorney opened a probe over Schiff’s Maryland/California primary-residence claims. Clearance also revoked.

Miles Taylor — A Warning (2019, anonymous), Blowback (2023) — Former Trump DHS chief of staff. Named in an April 2025 presidential memorandum directing a DHS/DOJ probe. Trump claimed “treason.” Security clearance revoked.

Cassidy Hutchinson — Enough (2024) — Former Trump official. DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, under Harmeet Dhillon, opened a criminal investigation around April 2026 into whether she lied to Congress in her January 6 testimony, following a referral from Rep. Barry Loudermilk.

Eric Swalwell — Endgame (2021) — Former Member of Congress. Threatened with mortgage fraud investigation while in office. (Since his resignation from Congress amidst allegations of impropriety, DOJ has reportedly opened another investigation into him.)

Tier 3 — Officially Targeted (clearances stripped, memoranda, referrals, public threats)

Alexander Vindman — Here, Right Matters (2021) — Former Trump National Security Council staff. Security clearance revoked by March 2025 presidential memorandum. First-impeachment witness.

Fiona Hill — There Is Nothing for You Here (2021) — Former Trump National Security Council staff. Clearance revoked in the same March 2025 memo. Testified in the first impeachment alongside Vindman.

Adam Kinzinger — Renegade (2023) — Former Member of Congress. Clearance revoked in the March 2025 memo. As a J6 committee member, he is also exposed to the recurring GOP/DOJ push to prosecute the committee’s work.

Liz Cheney — Oath and Honor (2023) — Former Member of Congress. Clearance revoked. Referred by Rep. Loudermilk in December 2024 for alleged witness tampering tied to Hutchinson, and the subject of Trump’s public musings about prosecution and even military tribunals.

Norm Eisen — A Case for the American People (2020) — Former Obama official and ambassador. Clearance revoked (more than once). A lead litigator against the administration.

Andrew Weissmann — Where Law Ends (2020) — Former federal prosecutor. Clearance revoked in the March 2025 memo. Lead Mueller prosecutor and frequent on-air critic.

Mark Esper — A Sacred Oath (2022) — Former Trump Defense Secretary. A recurring target of Trump’s retribution rhetoric and named among “disloyal” former officials with veiled threats of action and revocation of Esper’s security detail.

Chris Christie — Republican Rescue (2021), Let Me Finish (2019) — Former NJ governor. Persistent Trump antagonist and former ally; Trump has publicly threatened a DOJ investigation.

Tier 4 — Targeted Through Trump’s Personal Litigation

Bob Woodward — Rage (2020), War (2024) — Famed Washington Post journalist. Trump sued Woodward, Simon & Schuster, and Paramount for roughly $50 million over The Trump Tapes audiobook, claiming a copyright interest in his own interview answers. A federal judge dismissed the suit in July 2025.

Mary Trump — Too Much and Never Enough (2020), Who Could Ever Love You (2024) — Trump’s niece. He brought a breach-of-contract/NDA suit (over her sharing his tax records with the New York Times, which she disclosed in her first book); a New York judge declined to pause the case during his presidency.

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THE DEFIANCE WATCHLIST

We are tracking these stories today.

1. TRUMP REBRANDS AMERICA’S 250TH AS A “TRUMP RALLY.” Fresh off his UFC birthday spectacle at the White House, Trump has announced that the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebration on the National Mall will be headlined by “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.” After a string of artists pulled out of the Freedom 250 “Great American State Fair” over its partisan tilt, the president began inserting himself into the festivities — first hosting the fair’s opening ceremony, now branding the July 4 event at the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument as his own rally. Freedom 250 is the White House task force Trump created by executive order, separate from the bipartisan commission Congress chartered to mark the milestone. His face is already slated for the commemorative passports and the gold coin. Nothing says “Happy 250th, America” quite like minting the sitting president’s likeness onto the currency.

2. SUPREME COURT TAKES UP TRUMP’S INDEFINITE DETENTION POLICY. The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether the government can hold immigration detainees facing deportation for prolonged periods — months or even years — without ever granting a bond hearing. The case before the justices involves two green-card holders convicted of aggravated felonies, held for seven months and nearly two years with no chance to argue they weren’t a flight risk. But the stakes run far wider: the administration has reclassified broad categories of immigrants into mandatory detention, treating people arrested anywhere in the country — including longtime residents with no criminal record — as if they were recent border-crossers, stripping them of hearings they’d once have received. The lower courts have split, with some appeals courts upholding the policy and others striking it down. That split is what carried it to a Supreme Court that has repeatedly sided with Trump on immigration. We’ll be watching.

3. VANCE DANGLES A $300 BILLION FUND FOR IRAN. Vice President JD Vance said Iran could access a $300 billion reconstruction fund under the new peace agreement — provided Tehran honors obligations laid out in a deal whose terms still haven’t been released. Washington says Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz permanently; Tehran says it agreed only to 60 days of free passage while talks continue. Even Sen. Lindsey Graham conceded that Iran’s view of the deal “seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.” Pressed on the gap, Vance acknowledged there are still a lot of important details to work out. We’ve “ended” a war on terms the two sides can’t agree on… and in either case, those terms are a historic humiliation for the United States. Count on Democrats to win the midterms with this message.

4. ACT OF DEFIANCE — PRESERVATION GROUPS SUE TO STOP TRUMP’S STATUE “GARDEN.” Six preservation and cultural-heritage organizations sued the administration Monday to block Trump’s planned “National Garden of American Heroes” in West Potomac Park, arguing the project can’t proceed until it clears the reviews and authorization the law requires. They cite the Commemorative Works Act, which bars new monuments in that stretch of the Mall, and the administration’s decision to skip mandatory planning and fine-arts reviews. The park just finished a major seawall restoration; Trump wants to fill it with some 250 life-size statues. The coalition’s position is simple: follow the law first. If it weren’t for defiant lawsuits like this, America would look a hell of a lot different right now.

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