The calls from President Donald Trump’s MAGA base are getting noisier: Texas Democrats who fled the state to derail a hyperpartisan GOP redistricting maneuver should be criminally charged, arrested and dragged back to Austin.
Now, it appears the FBI is involved in the hunt.
But those screaming the loudest appear likely to wind up disappointed. There’s no known evidence that the absconding lawmakers have actually broken any federal or state laws, despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s strained suggestion that they may have committed bribery.
It’s a familiar refrain for Trump’s second term: The far right lusts to see prominent Democrats or Trump adversaries hauled off in handcuffs, only to be let down when their revenge fantasies run into reality.
“They voted for that and now they realize they can’t have retribution because it’s not legally sound,” said Gene Rossi, a white collar criminal defense lawyer who spent 30 years at the Justice Department.
This cycle — impetuous promises of criminal consequences followed by dejection when Trump’s enemies aren’t immediately arrested — has already happened with Jack Smith, with James Comey, even with Joe Biden and Barack Obama (and their top advisers). The Trump administration has ordered investigations of all these figures, but legal experts say the probes are largely performative and unlikely to prompt serious or legitimate criminal charges.
It’s also happening, perhaps most profoundly, with MAGA loyalists’ dissatisfaction over the Jeffrey Epstein saga. The base believed Trump would vindicate conspiracy theories about Democrats and other public figures being involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking, leading to a new wave of arrests and prosecutions. That hasn’t materialized.
Brash promises and MAGA backlash
Trump, of course, has long stoked his base’s hunger for criminal reprisals, even dating back to his 2016 “Lock her up” pledge against Hillary Clinton.
He escalated that rhetoric during the 2024 campaign. “I am your retribution,” he promised his supporters.
And ever since he returned to office, administration officials and influential MAGA figures have suggested that high-profile arrests are justified and imminent, often vowing that “justice is coming.”
But both Trump and his base are learning that it’s not simple to round up political opponents, even with Trump loyalists in charge of the Justice Department.
“I want arrest[s] not DOJ people making promises on Fox News,” said Trump-aligned podcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a recent poston X, which appended a list of MAGA-fueled scandals that have not led to any notable legal consequences.
Jones isn’t alone. A cascade of Trump’s influential backers have wondered aloud why the president and his Justice Department have not delivered the arrests and indictments they crave.
The issue flared most prominently last month when the Justice Department and FBI made thewhiplash-inducing admission that the so-called Epstein files do not contain a “client list” of celebrity sex traffickers. The existence of such a list has been an article of faith among MAGA influencers for years, and Trump aides’ efforts to unwind the conspiracy theories have plunged the administration into weeks of turmoil and recriminations.
“What’s the time? Oh look, it’s no-one-has-been-arrested-o’clock again,” Elon Musk wrote in aJuly 7 post on X.
The targets so far
To be sure, the Trump administration has brought criminal charges against some Democrats and other officials who oppose — or are perceived as opposing — the president’s agenda. They include Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who was arrested while visiting an immigration detention center, and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with obstructing federal immigration authorities.
Trump has also used other powers of his office to target perceived foes, like yanking the security clearances of lawyers who have worked on cases against him and ordering agencies to cancel contracts with law firms that have employed those lawyers. (Those efforts have largely been blocked by federal courts.)
And he has ordered the Justice Department to investigate former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor and former cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs, who have become vocal Trump critics. He has also called for the impeachment of judges who have blocked his policies.
But Trump’s base wants more. Far-right influencers have clamored for arrests stemming from a range of other purported conspiracies, including:
the allegation that Obama and his top aides engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” in how they handled intelligence related to Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 election;
the theory that Biden’s aides committed crimes by allegedly covering up his cognitive decline, and that Biden’s end-of-term pardons are invalid;
the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump through rampant fraud; and
the false claim that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was orchestrated by the government.
Trump himself has floated investigations, arrests and prosecutions for many of those involved.
Each example, amplified by Trump and his closest allies, has been backed by little to no evidence but has nevertheless become dogma among MAGA supporters. Now they’re seething over the lack of action.
“Number of tweets that President Trump & his team have sent about arresting Russia Hoax traitors: 275,322. Number of arrests that President Trump & his team have made of Russia Hoax traitors: 0,” Emerald Robinson, a prominent pro-Trump broadcaster, recently posted.
Another pro-Trump activist, Laura Loomer, demanded the Justice Department arrestComey, the former FBI director, for a controversy over an Instagram post of seashells spelling out “86 47,” which Trump allies said was a coded threat against the president.
For now, the administration appears willing to open all manner of investigations, even those seen as flimsy and unlikely to lead to actual arrests. Attorney General Pam Bondi this week ordered a grand jury investigation of the Russia-related allegations. Fox News’ Laura Ingraham recently reported that Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is being eyed by the U.S. attorney in Maryland over mortgage paperwork — an allegation Schiff has called political retaliation. Smith, the former special prosecutor who brought two federal criminal cases against Trump, is under the gaze of the Office of Special Counsel, which probes allegations of improper political activity by government officials.
None of the matters have yielded any criminal or ethics-related charges to date.
The cycle moves to Texas
Now, the Texas redistricting battle has ignited the cycle anew.
Texas House leaders have authorized the civil arrest of Democrats to compel their attendance at a special session to consider redistricting legislation. But their power only extends to Texas’ borders, and more than 50 of the Democratic lawmakers have fled to friendlier turf, like Illinois and Massachusetts.
This week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is locked in an uphill primary campaign against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, urged the FBI to support Texas’ efforts to locate the fleeing lawmakers. On Wednesday, Abbott indicated that the FBI had agreed to assist.
The FBI declined to comment on its involvement, but the agency is tasked with federal law enforcement and it’s unclear what role the bureau could play in the matter. Still, the news of the bureau’s apparent involvement reignited Trump allies’ belief that arrests could be imminent.
Paxton too welcomed possible help from the FBI, despite saying earlier that he thought the feds had no role to play.
“Let me first say, this is a state issue,” Paxton said on pro-Trump podcaster Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “I don’t know what the FBI would have to do with this, nothing.”
On Wednesday, Bannon also hosted a Texas lawmaker, Rep. Brian Harrison, who has become a vocal critic of GOP leaders for what he says was a failure to thwart Democrats’ effort to block the redistricting measure. He says Republicans aren’t doing enough to hold those Democrats accountable.
To Trump’s detractors, the chaos is the point, even if stoking supporters’ hunger for arrests never results in legitimate criminal charges.
“There isn’t really a plan and he doesn’t see, look for or care about a bigger picture,” said Ty Cobb, a former Trump attorney who has since become a vocal critic. “Courts will disrupt or halt many of these nascent efforts as they mature but that is fine with him too as it helps further discredit the courts in the eyes of his followers and weakens democracy even more. It is all such a waste.”
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