IT'S A RICO CASE:

After Donald Trump left the White House, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, the man who served as the Republican president's chief of staff for 17 months, has struggled to contain his contempt for his former boss. Over the last couple of years, Kelly has accused Trump of, among other things, "poisoning" people's minds, having "serious character issues," and not being "a real man."

But even more important than Kelly's assessment of the former president's character are the concerns he's raised about Trump's abuses while in office. Last fall, the week before Thanksgiving, Kelly told The New York Times that Trump, during his presidency, told his chief of staff to use the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department to target his critics and perceived political foes.

The Times' report went on to note, "Mr. Kelly said he made clear to Mr. Trump that there were serious legal and ethical issues with what he wanted." The then-president "regularly" made the demands anyway, leading Kelly to remind his boss what he wanted "was not just potentially illegal and immoral but also could blow back on him."

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