Yoo Joins Trump Probe
John Yoo, 'Torture Memos' Author, Advises Probe Into Alleged Conspiracy Against Trump
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Conservative law professor John Yoo — the Bush-era official who wrote legal memos authorizing waterboarding — has joined a federal probe targeting former law enforcement and intelligence officials seen as enemies of President Trump, The Associated Press confirmed June 29. Yoo will serve as a consultant on constitutional issues for a team led by Joe diGenova, an 81-year-old Trump loyalist and former U.S. Attorney.
The investigation is based in Florida and focuses on whether former officials — including ex-FBI Director James Comey and ex-CIA Director John Brennan — engaged in a criminal conspiracy against Trump. It is not yet clear whether any charges will be filed.
Who Is Running This Probe and Why
Joe diGenova leads the investigation. He previously represented Trump during the 2020 election challenges and once said former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs should be "shot at dawn," according to The Guardian. His wife, Victoria Toensing, is also on the team. Together, they have spent years pushing theories about a government "deep state" working to undermine Trump.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche oversees the probe. Blanche was Trump's own personal criminal defense lawyer in the hush money and classified documents cases. Legal ethics scholars say this creates a serious conflict of interest, since he now supervises investigations into the same agents and prosecutors who once went after his client, The Guardian reported.
John Yoo's Controversial History Follows Him Into New Role
Yoo is a UC Berkeley law professor. As a senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, he wrote the so-called "torture memos" in 2002 and 2003. Those memos gave legal cover for "enhanced interrogation" techniques. Critics note that Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times under the legal framework Yoo created, according to the ACLU.
Yoo confirmed his new role in an email to the Associated Press. "I have known Joe diGenova and Vicky Toensing for more than three decades," he wrote. "If they and the United States need my assistance, I'm happy to provide it anytime." DiGenova kept it simpler: "He's a lawyer. He's going to be helping us," CNN reported.
The 'Deep State' Theory Behind the Investigation
The probe is rooted in the idea that FBI and CIA officials ran a coordinated criminal conspiracy to bring down Trump starting in 2016. A prior investigation led by special counsel John Durham spent years examining the same events. Durham found procedural errors but no broad criminal conspiracy, according to Politico. This new team is taking a far more aggressive approach.
The investigation revisits events like the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" Russia probe and the August 2022 search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. At least four career DOJ prosecutors were reportedly fired after raising concerns about the probe's direction, The Guardian reported. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division has also shed roughly 70 percent of its lawyers under recent leadership changes.
Critics See Retaliation; Supporters Call It Accountability
Civil liberties groups call the probe a "weaponization of the Justice Department." The ACLU and others describe it as a "retaliation agenda" aimed at punishing Trump's political enemies. Legal scholars writing in the California Law Review say the current DOJ is in a state of democratic "backsliding" driven by the "politicization of government lawyers."
Supporters see it differently. Backers within conservative legal circles frame diGenova and Yoo as defenders of the Constitution who are exposing what they call an illegal "spying operation" by the FBI. They argue the probe brings long-overdue accountability for what they call the "Russia Collusion Hoax." The investigation's outcome could set a precedent for how future administrations treat the investigators of their predecessors, The Guardian warned.
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