The mob boss in the White House

This is a stress test of the US government

If you weren't taking President Donald Trump literally, you were wrong.

"Lock her up!" and "America First!" are more than just slogans. 

He's stress-testing the government for ways to punish his rival Hillary Clinton and absolving Saudi Arabia for the way its titular leader dispatched with one of his critics in exchange for their participation in the US arms market.

Freedom to dissent and the peaceful transfer of power between opponents are supposed to be what sets the US apart from undemocratic societies.

But when Trump shot back at Clinton during a 2016 presidential debate that if he were President she'd be in jail, it was a prelude to him actually targeting his former rival and pressuring the Department of Justice to actually "lock her up."

Trump raised prosecuting Clinton with top White House, Justice officials

President Donald Trump on multiple occasions raised with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Matt Whitaker, who was then-chief of staff to Jeff Sessions, whether the Justice Department was progressing in investigating Hillary Clinton, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The President also wanted his previous White House counsel, Don McGahn, to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton on numerous occasions, but McGahn rebuffed doing that, the source said.

Anticipating the question about Clinton would be raised, Whitaker came prepared to answer with what Justice was doing on Clinton-related matters, including the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One investigations, the source said. 

The source added that Whitaker was trying to appease the President, but did not seem to cross any line.

The New York Times first reported on Trump's requests to McGahn to prosecute Clinton, as well as former FBI Director James Comey.

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Trump said during his campaign that he would seek to use the presidency to direct an investigation against Clinton, and since taking office he has repeatedly railed against the Justice Department for the special counsel investigation's focus on his associates rather than investigations into his political opponents.

Trump engaged in a war of words with Sessions several months before the Alabama Republican was fired, and the President said on Twitter that Sessions should investigate Democrats and "Comey lies."