The morning after President Donald Trump declared a “war on fraud” during his State of the Union address, senior Justice Department prosecutor Colin McDonald told the Senate Judiciary Committee and said he would steadfastly follow the department’s tradition to focus only on the evidence. “You are now placed in a highly politicized division,” one of the Democratic senators on the committee, Mazie Hirono, warned. “We already know that the president considers the Department of Justice to be his law firm, Pam Bondi to be his lawyer. The Justice Department already has multiple offices that investigate criminal and civil fraud cases, leading some lawmakers and legal experts to question whether creating the new division is necessary. Vance, who Trump said in his speech would lead the “war on fraud,” said Wednesday that the effort would be a “whole government approach” that included other federal departments, including the Treasury Department.

Source: CNN February 26, 2026 02:05 UTC