Trump's political enemies post could put Maryland's US attorney on the spot

Jeff Barker, The Baltimore Sun on Sep 24, 2025

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BALTIMORE — Maryland’s U.S. attorney may help determine the outcome of President Donald Trump’s pursuit of criminal cases against his political enemies.

Two of the president’s political targets — California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former national security adviser John Bolton — live in Maryland.

Trump has said each should be jailed — Schiff for alleged mortgage fraud, and Bolton for allegedly retaining classified material. Each has denied the allegations, and neither has been charged.

If the investigations advance that far, it would likely be up to U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes, who oversees federal prosecutions in the state, to decide if criminal charges are warranted. She is an experienced Maryland federal prosecutor in her first year as U.S. attorney and was appointed by Trump earlier this year.

“There will be pressure,” said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias. “It’s delicate, especially in light of what happened in the Eastern District of Virginia.”

Tobias referred to Erik Siebert being replaced as a U.S. attorney in Virginia after a mortgage fraud investigation failed to result in criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump said Saturday that he was nominating Lindsey Halligan, a senior White House aide, to replace Siebert.

James, Schiff and former FBI director James Comey, who are Trump political adversaries, were named by the president in a Truth Social post on Saturday, pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with cases.

“Pam,” Trump’s post began, “I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”

Asked by The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday about the post — and whether the administration was pressuring Hayes — the White House forwarded a statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“President Trump appreciates all Attorney General Bondi is doing to Make America Safe Again. The President wants justice and accountability for the many corrupt criminals and politicians who weaponized our justice system against him and his millions of patriotic supporters,” Leavitt’s statement said.

But Rep. Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Trump’s approach puts prosecutors in fraught positions.

“Trump believes that every U.S. attorney and federal prosecutor in the land works directly for him to serve his personal vendettas,” Raskin said. “And that obviously puts a professional U.S attorney, as opposed to a sycophant flunky, into quite a quandary.”

Maryland’s Democratic senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, also expressed concern. Van Hollen said federal prosecutors “must stand strong and uphold the integrity of their offices.”

Alsobrooks, a former Prince George’s County state’s attorney and county executive, said: “The oath that prosecutors take is to seek justice. It is not to seek retribution. It is not to seek revenge.”

The Sun also reached out to the Maryland Republican Party and Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation, for comment. There was no immediate reply.

Hayes, who is from Montgomery County, was named interim U.S. attorney in February. The “interim” tag was removed in June by District of Maryland judges who have such authority in cases where an interim appointee has served at least 120 days.

Hayes declined to be interviewed about any cases that may be pending, a spokesman said.

The FBI raided Bolton’s home in August in a search for classified documents. He has been a frequent Trump critic. Schiff, who led Trump’s first impeachment trial in the U.S. House, has denied mortgage fraud allegations by a federal housing official who made a criminal referral this summer to the Justice Department.

An assistant U.S. attorney who later headed the office’s Southern Division, Hayes worked with two Maryland U.S. attorneys — Rod Rosenstein and Robert Hur — appointed by Republican administrations but who worked closely with state and local Democrats.

Rosenstein was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2005 and kept on by Democratic President Barack Obama, serving 12 years in the position. He was later a deputy attorney general in Trump’s first administration.

Reached Tuesday, Rosenstein declined to discuss any particular case facing Hayes, but told The Sun in an email: “Federal prosecutors only file charges if admissible evidence proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant committed a crime that warrants prosecution under nonpartisan principles.”

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