Assistant Attorney General Condemns ‘Shock-and-Awe’ Arrests Amid Criticism of Biden Administration Tactics

By Michael Katz | Wednesday, 08 October 2025 07:28 PM EDT

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, criticized the handling of arrests under the Biden administration, contrasting it with the treatment of former FBI Director James Comey during his arraignment. Dhillon described the “shock-and-awe” tactics used in detaining Trump-era officials and supporters as an abuse of power.

“It definitely was a violation of protocols to have these sort of shock-and-awe armed guards and CNN watching,” Dhillon said on The Chris Salcedo Show. She referenced the arrest of Roger Stone, where “people like Jeffrey Clark out in the street and his little children terrorized while the media is watching — that’s an outrageous abuse of power and it’s overreach.”

Dhillon praised Comey’s calm surrender and court appearance on federal charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. She called this “the appropriate way law enforcement should behave,” adding, “I know people want vengeance… That isn’t really the American way. Hopefully we can all dial it back and behave appropriately in these types of circumstances.”

Comey, who served as FBI director from 2013 to 2017, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington to two counts of lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his handling of the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. He was released without bail pending a hearing later this month.

Dhillon compared Comey’s treatment to high-profile arrests of Trump allies, including Peter Navarro and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, whose suburban Virginia home was searched by armed agents in 2022. She also referenced the 2022 arrest of Pennsylvania anti-abortion activist Mark Houck, who was found not guilty by a jury.

“I don’t know how the government can apologize to Roger Stone and others for the unnecessary humiliation they were put through,” Dhillon said. “It was completely wrong and un-American.”