No one really thought that when the attacks came, they would be properly labeled as "retribution" did they? And certainly no one thought that punishments would be meted out directly by the president.
The sad part is that the "punishments" will hurt others than the intended victims. If you let Department X go down to the dust because its members were fractious, who is hurt? Those people will get other jobs. What about the students? What about the staff? In the long run, every hurtful thing that has been done or is about to be done, hurts our students most of all. What a legacy.