Day 219: 33 People in 7 Days—How the Targeted Reprisal Phase Has Begun in Ernest
- john raymond
- Aug 27
- 2 min read
On Day 212 I warned that a dangerous new phase of this presidency had begun. I called it the “targeted looting phase.” In truth, that was the wrong term. What I meant—and what events of the past seven days have confirmed—is reprisal. Targeted reprisal.
These are not opportunistic thefts from weakened institutions; they are deliberate punishments meant to silence dissent and instill fear.
In one week, thirty-three people have been struck.
Bolton—once central, now discarded and targeted.
Garcia—hit again, proving that submission does not spare one from renewed attack.
Lisa Cook, Federal Reserve Governor—forced out on flimsy pretexts, a direct assault on the independence of monetary policy.
Thirty FEMA employees—their only crime was signing a letter of conscience. They were put on leave, a bureaucratic euphemism for reprisal.
This is not a scatter of firings. It is a message. Former allies, independent officials, and frontline public servants alike are being taught the same lesson: loyalty or elimination.
Reprisal differs from ordinary political turnover. It is not about replacing one set of appointees with another. It is about punishment—removing not only influence but livelihood, reputation, and the right to speak. It is about teaching people that independence from Trump is the same as treason.
Thirty-three people in seven days marks the opening of a campaign that will spread wider. The intent is not to discipline a few, but to terrorize the many. Those who remain in government will calculate their words carefully, knowing that even silence may not be enough.
What I called targeted looting on Day 212 has revealed itself more clearly as what it always was: targeted reprisal.
And now, on Day 219, the reprisal phase has been shown to have begun in earnest.
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