The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is closely monitoring former President Donald Trump and his allies as they campaign with promises to clamp down on protesters and use the justice system to target political adversaries.

“Trump is not shy about saying exactly what he plans to do,” stated Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the ACLU.

In response, Wang and her team are releasing a memo to preemptively address and mitigate possible misuses of executive authority if Trump were to secure a second term.

“Our memo that’s being released now is really a story about a loaded gun that we’ve left in the hands of any president,” Wang explained.

The ACLU draws from recent events as a reference. In 2020, Trump ordered the removal of racial justice protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., for a photo op in front of a church. National Guard troops, federal agents, and local police deployed tear gas and force against the peaceful demonstrators. The ACLU responded with lawsuits citing First and Fourth Amendment violations and is ready to take similar actions again if necessary.

The civil liberties organization is also highlighting the role of Congress in limiting the president’s emergency powers and urging governors and mayors to direct their police forces not to cooperate with federal law enforcement task forces.

“There are so many levers that the American people and their representatives in Congress and in local governments can pull in order to stop Donald Trump from trampling on people’s civil rights,” Wang emphasized.

ACLU leaders are particularly alarmed by Trump’s threats to use the justice system against his perceived political foes. Trump has expressed intentions to investigate President Biden, his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, and several of his own former Cabinet members who opposed his directives.

“Even if the person is eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, that can ruin someone’s life,” Wang noted.

Recently, a conservative Supreme Court majority granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution for discussing investigations with the Justice Department, providing significant power to a future president, constrained only by post-Watergate norms adopted by the department.

“The independence of the Justice Department depends on the goodwill, the good faith of presidents, of attorneys general, to abide by them,” Wang said.

Wang argues that it is dangerous to grant any president such unchecked authority.