The “Tread Carefully” Retribution: Weaponizing the DOJ in the Name of Elon Musk

The halls of Congress are currently witnessing the birth of a new, dangerous precedent: an Attorney General who issues televised warnings to sitting lawmakers for the “crime” of dissent. During a heated House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on April 3, 2025, Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) delivered a scathing rebuke of Attorney General Pam Bondi, exposing a Department of Justice that has pivoted from enforcing the law to executing the personal vendettas of the billionaire class.

At the heart of the firestorm is a televised appearance by Bondi on Fox News, where she looked into the camera and warned Crockett to “tread very carefully.” This stark departure from the impartial conduct expected of the nation’s top law enforcement official followed Crockett’s comments regarding Elon Musk and the “Tesla Takedown” movement—a platform the Congresswoman emphasizes is for peaceful protest, but which the DOJ is now branding as “domestic terrorism.“

The “Faux News” Ultimatum

Bondi’s appearance on what Crockett calls “Faux News” was not a standard briefing on department policy; it was a shot across the bow. By warning an elected official to “tread carefully” after she called for Musk to be “taken down” (a term Crockett clarifies refers to his unchecked financial and political influence), Bondi effectively attempted to abridge a member of Congress’s right to free speech.

“To have the sitting Attorney General go on Fox News and then decide that she wanted to send a threat to me… it was wrong,” Crockett declared. “She is the highest law enforcement agent in this country, and people are believing that simply because I decided that I wanted to exercise my right to free speech, she then wanted to politicize it.”

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. An administration that rose to power on the promise of ending “weaponized” government has, in less than a year, turned the DOJ into a personal security detail for Elon Musk. While Musk operates “above the law,” cashing in on federal contracts and receiving taxpayer-funded protection for his private businesses, the DOJ is being mobilized to investigate and intimidate those who dare to criticize his role in the “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative.

Threats, Retribution, and the Death of Civil Discourse

Crockett’s speech highlighted a grim reality of modern governance: the “sharp incline” in threats against the lives of public officials. In 2024, the U.S. Capitol Police investigated 9,474 threat assessment cases—the second consecutive yearly increase. This environment is only made more volatile when the Attorney General herself joins the fray.

Racial and Gender Disparity: A 2024 poll revealed that 69% of female and racial minority members of Congress receive threats frequently, compared to a lower baseline for their white male colleagues.

Hostility Drivers: In a 2025 survey of local officials, two in five minority officials cited their race or ethnicity as a primary driver of the hostility they face.

A Culture of Retribution: Crockett pointed to letters of threat sent to multiple members of Congress from the new DOJ as evidence that the department is now focused on “retribution,” not justice.

The DEI Boogeyman and the Purge of Experience

The rhetoric doesn’t stop at Musk. Crockett also called out the administration’s constant “railing” against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). She argued that the push for a homogeneous, non-diverse law enforcement system is a deliberate attempt to remove “rapport and understanding” from the justice system.

The purge is already underway. Hundreds of career prosecutors have been forced out—either voluntarily or through firing—simply because they worked on high-profile investigations like the January 6th cases. When the Attorney General values “fealty to the President” over years of specialized experience in counterterrorism or cybercrime, the safety of the entire country is compromised.

A Jury of Peers, Not a Cabinet of Cronies

Crockett concluded with a powerful reminder of how the American justice system is supposed to work. Despite the administration’s claims of a “witch hunt,” Donald Trump was indicted four times and convicted on 34 felony counts in New York not by “enemies,” but by a jury of his peers.

The tragedy of the Bondi DOJ is the attempt to replace that civic foundation with a system of “pay-to-play” and billionaire protection. When the law only applies to the dissenters and never to the donors, it isn’t “restoring law and order”—it’s an autocracy. Jasmine Crockett’s message was clear: she will not be intimidated by a “tread carefully” threat, and the American people should be just as concerned about an Attorney General who thinks she has the power to issue one.