🧩 BND Motif Index · M619
Lawfare
An official turns the legal powers of his office, such as investigations, subpoenas, and lawsuits, against his enemies to punish and intimidate them rather than to enforce the law.
📜 Plots🗂️ Who rules🗂️ Accountability🗂️ Coercion and Intimidation🗂️ Crime and punishment🗂️ Abuse of power
- 56claims filed under it
- 11left shows it came up on
- 4center shows it came up on
- 15right shows it came up on
- 14claims retold online
⚠️ A story people tell, not a claim that it's true.
A motif is the shape of a story as its tellers tell it, named the way a folklorist names a tale type, so the same story told about other people, by the other side or in another year lands in the same place. Some of the claims below are true, many are false. Arguing against a story is often a story of its own, its answer (Voter fraud is answered by Voter suppression, Lawfare by No one is above the law), and we file it there; where no answer has a motif yet, the arguments against a story sit with its tellings.
🪜 Its family
what it rests on, what rests on it, and the motifs that answer it
🪜 rests on 🧩 Intimidation
⤵️ under it: 🧩 Political retaliation 🧩 Enemies list
↔️ answers and mirrors:
- 🧩 No one is above the law No one is above the law answers Lawfare
⏱️ answered 8 days after this was first told here (2026-10-03 → 2026-10-11)
🔗 goes with: 🧩 Executive overreach 🧩 Kleptocracy
🎙️ Who it came up with
the shows we follow where its claims came up, by the show's lean
🫏 left 11
🎙️ CNN 5 Things 🎙️ Pod Save America 🎙️ Strict Scrutiny 🎙️ The Adam Mockler Show 🎙️ The Bulwark Podcast 🎙️ The Kyle Kulinski Show 🎙️ The Majority Report (podcast) 🎙️ The MeidasTouch Podcast 🎙️ The Young Turks (podcast) 🎙️ Today in Focus (Guardian) 🎙️ Today, Explained
⚖️ center 4
🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast 🎙️ Breaking Points 🎙️ NPR Politics Podcast 🎙️ The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC)
🐘 right 15
🎙️ Bannon's War Room 🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton 🎙️ Fox News Rundown 🎙️ Louder with Crowder 🎙️ Morning Wire 🎙️ PBD Podcast (podcast) 🎙️ The Benny Show 🎙️ The Dan Bongino Show 🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ The Mark Levin Show 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show 🎙️ The Michael Berry Show 🎙️ Timcast IRL (podcast) 🎙️ Verdict with Ted Cruz 🎙️ Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
"Came up on" means one of its claims was heard on the show: told, reported or argued against. We don't yet mark which. Show leans are our own grouping of the shows we transcribe.
📰 In the news
the stories its claims were told about, the most told first (matched by our tools, so a link can be wrong)
- 📰 Federal investigators question Ilhan Omar's sister 2026-10-12 to 2026-10-22
- 📰 DOJ sues California over 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-19
- 📰 Trump establishes committee to investigate Fed governor Lisa Cook 2026-10-09 to 2026-10-12
- 📰 US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court 2026-10-10 to 2026-10-12
- 📰 DOJ investigates TV networks over press pool coverage suspension 2026-10-11 to 2026-10-14
- 📰 DOJ warns California election officials of legal risks for counting suspected noncitizen ballots 2026-10-18
- 📰 Obama criticizes Trump administration's investigation of Ilhan Omar 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-21
- 📰 Justice Department seeks court order over alleged noncitizen voters in California 2026-10-21 to 2026-10-22
- 📰 White House weighs mass pardons for junior staffers 2026-10-25
- 📰 Alaska judge fast-tracks DOJ lawsuit over Senate election certification 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-28
🧶 Its claims
what's been told in this shape, newest first, in our words, with where each was heard
- 2026-10-27 “The Trump DOJ is committing an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice against James Comey.”
🎙️ The MeidasTouch Podcast 🎙️ CNN 5 Things 🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast 🎙️ Bannon's War Room - 2026-10-26 “Democrats plan to use prosecutions and investigations to solidify their power.”
🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ Today, Explained 🎙️ Fox News Rundown 🎙️ The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC) - 2026-10-26 “Democrats would turn the Texas Attorney General's office into a mini Obama-Biden Department of Justice to destroy Texas.”
🎙️ The Michael Berry Show 🎙️ The Benny Show - 2026-10-25 “The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block Alaska from certifying its Senate election unless the Republican candidate wins.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-25 “The Justice Department is demanding California counties segregate ballots from suspected noncitizen voters to root out voter fraud.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-25 “Democrats plan to prosecute people for supporting Donald Trump.”
🎙️ The Michael Berry Show - 2026-10-25 “The media and prosecutors want to see Donald Trump humiliated.”
🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-25 “Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department and the federal government against his political enemies.”
🎙️ Today in Focus (Guardian) 🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ The Dan Bongino Show 🎙️ Pod Save America - 2026-10-25 “Democrats fabricate crimes to bring charges against Donald Trump.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-24 “The Department of Justice has been weaponized through groundless indictments.”
🎙️ The Mark Levin Show - 2026-10-24 “Trump will have to issue mass pardons to protect low-level West Wing employees from prosecution.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton - 2026-10-24 “The establishment fears Elon Musk because of his individual power.”
🎙️ PBD Podcast (podcast) - 2026-10-24 “Democrats want to use lawfare to make people afraid to work for a future Trump administration.”
🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton - 2026-10-23 “The legal system has become a weapon used against people and institutions.”
🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-23 “Senator Louise Lucas claims the Trump administration is using federal law enforcement to silence her.”
🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-23 “The Brazilian courts are being abused to eliminate political opposition.”
🎙️ Louder with Crowder - 2026-10-23 “The Biden administration coordinated legal actions against Donald Trump through various prosecutors and officials.”
🎙️ The Mark Levin Show 🎙️ Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words - 2026-10-23 “The Justice Department has been weaponized against political enemies during the Biden administration.”
🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show 🎙️ Verdict with Ted Cruz 🎙️ The Michael Berry Show - 2026-10-22 “Senator Elissa Slotkin wants to deter young people from working for the Trump administration through the threat of prosecution.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton 🎙️ Verdict with Ted Cruz 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show 🎙️ Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words - 2026-10-22 “The Justice Department is threatening to prosecute California election officials for processing ballots from non-citizens.”
🎙️ Bannon's War Room - 2026-10-22 “Democrats intend to use investigations and subpoenas as revenge against the Trump administration.”
🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ Today, Explained 🎙️ Fox News Rundown 🎙️ The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC) - 2026-10-22 “Alyssa Slotkin wants to prosecute political opponents as a form of deterrence.”
🎙️ The Michael Berry Show 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-21 “The Trump administration is using immigration investigations to intimidate Rep. Ilhan Omar and strip her of her citizenship.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-21 “Jack Smith collected personal data on hundreds of thousands of MAGA supporters to target them.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton - 2026-10-21 “Elissa Slotkin's actions violate the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments.”
🎙️ The Michael Berry Show - 2026-10-21 “Donald Trump is attempting to intimidate Ilhan Omar before the midterm elections.”
🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show - 2026-10-21 “Alyssa Slotkin intends to use the law to intimidate people from working in a Trump administration.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton - 2026-10-20 “The Trump DOJ is suing California over allegedly ineligible voters to seize ballots.”
🎙️ Bannon's War Room 🎙️ The Majority Report (podcast) 🎙️ Fox News Rundown - 2026-10-20 “The Biden administration has targeted Donald Trump with lawfare while failing to do the same to Democrats.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton - 2026-10-19 “Barack Obama condemned the Trump administration's investigation into Ilhan Omar as an attempt to intimidate and deport her.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-18 “The Trump administration is threatening to jail California election officials over unproven claims about noncitizen voters.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-18 “Authorities and the DOJ are targeting Ilhan Omar through illegal searches and attempts to strip her citizenship.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-18 “Lawyers for Representative Ilhan Omar accuse federal authorities of violating a judge's order during the search of her home.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-16 “The Trump administration is using an immigration fraud probe to strip Ilhan Omar of her citizenship and deport her.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-16 “The investigation of Ilhan Omar's citizenship is political persecution meant to shut her up.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-15 “Federal authorities are investigating Representative Ilhan Omar's immigration status through subpoenas and searches, which critics argue is a politically motivated attempt to intimidate her and strip her of citizenship.” 🧶 people online
- 2026-10-14 “Federal agents searched Ilhan Omar's home as part of an investigation into immigration crimes.”
🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton 🎙️ Louder with Crowder 🎙️ Bannon's War Room 🎙️ The Young Turks (podcast) 🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ Breaking Points - 2026-10-14 “Democrats use the law, the FBI, and other institutions as weapons against their political enemies.”
🎙️ The Mark Levin Show 🎙️ The Jesse Kelly Show 🎙️ Timcast IRL (podcast) 🎙️ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton 🎙️ Fox News Rundown 🎙️ The Kyle Kulinski Show 🎙️ Strict Scrutiny 🎙️ Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words - 2026-10-14 “The investigation into Ilhan Omar is an abuse of power by federal authorities.”
🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast - 2026-10-13 “Donald Trump authorized a raid on Ilhan Omar's home based on baseless right-wing conspiracy theories.”
🎙️ The Adam Mockler Show - and 16 older, on the index page
M619 · first seen 2026-10-07 · last 2026-10-28 · what this is · how the index works