Trump special counsel appointment tests Biden pledge to keep politics out of DOJ

Naomi Lim

November 22, 06:00 AM November 22, 06:00 AM

Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel to spearhead the Justice Department's criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump has incensed Republicans, already rankled by the idea the federal agency has become bogged down by politics since the 2016 election.

But as Republicans, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), call for Garland's impeachment and to "defund" Justice Department Trump investigations, President Joe Biden's promise to respect the agency's independence will be tested, especially as the new GOP House majority seeks to keep its pledge to look into his son Hunter.

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Former Arkansas U.S. attorney Bud Cummins criticized Garland for proving "beyond doubt" he is a "politicized prosecutor," repeating "nothing" can rehabilitate his and the Justice Department's reputation without a "top to bottom" reorganization, incorporating the FBI.

"A real, non-political prosecutor can create an atmosphere where decisions are made for the right reasons and nobody doubts it," Cummins told the Washington Examiner. "But DOJ history since at least 2016 has been hyper-partisan and they simply have no credibility. Special counsel won’t change that. May make it worse."

Cummins, Arkansas chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign and a member of his White House transition team, dislikes special counsels on principle since they spend months "staffing up" before facing pressure to "keep going." Republicans cite special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in that election, while Democrats point to independent counsel Kenneth Starr's inquiry into former President Bill Clinton's Whitewater real estate investments.

"They struggle to quietly close cases that just aren’t there, and inevitably the scope of investigations expand further and further," Cummins said. "We cannot tolerate this trend of exhaustively using government resources to investigate political opponents. It has to stop."

Trump reportedly hoped announcing his third presidential campaign last week would complicate the Justice Department's investigations into him. But Garland choosing special counsel Jack Smith to look into Trump's connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and his alleged mishandling of government documents, including classified materials, addresses conflict of interest concerns and provides political cover for Biden, according to Democrats.

Douglas Gansler, former Democratic state attorney general of Maryland, applauded Garland for tapping Smith, the one-time Justice Department public integrity unit chief and International Criminal Court prosecutor's office investigation coordinator. Republicans have countered Democrats' rhetoric by underscoring Smith's part in the Supreme Court-overturned 2014 corruption conviction of ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA).

"To prevent any appearance of conflict, and because there is an array of issues that need to be probed, the special counsel provides complete independence," Gansler, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP who ran for governor this year, said. "The selection of this particular special counsel makes it more likely that charges will ultimately be brought."

Democratic political analyst Paul Henderson contended Trump is under "so many" investigations, "doing anything other than continuing [them] would undermine the credibility of prosecutions throughout the various agencies."

"At this point, if the Biden-Harris administration intervened to delay, suspend, or end any of the investigations led by the DOJ, it would be interpreted as an abuse of power given what we already know," he said.

Henderson, chief of administration and a prosecutor for Vice President Kamala Harris when she was San Francisco's district attorney, underlined how some of the Justice Department's investigations involve joint jurisdiction authority so state and local counterparts of federal officials can proceed undeterred.

"Aside from naming a special counsel, one of the strongest moves Attorney General Merrick Garland can do is to share the evidence of his ongoing investigations with other prosecutorial jurisdictions so that they can evaluate their own authority to evaluate criminal charges as well," he said.

Smith's appointment coincides with Trump's weakened standing among Republicans after this month's midterm elections, when an anticipated so-called red wave never eventuated, and potential GOP presidential candidates started distancing themselves from the former party standard-bearer. At the same time, incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) has already indicated Republicans on his panel will not subpoena Joe Biden, preferring instead to focus on his son Hunter.

The White House insisted last week it was not advised of Garland's decision, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterating "we do not politicize the Department of Justice."

"That is something that the president said during the campaign. That is something that the president said in his early days of being in the White House. And that continues to be true," she told reporters. "We were not involved in this particular issue. We were not involved in — let me just say that more broadly — we're not involved in criminal investigations that are done independently by the Department of Justice."

Garland had foreshadowed he would select a special counsel before pointing to Trump's campaign launch and Biden's "stated intention to be a candidate as well." Former President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee was adamant the Justice Department is committed to "independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matter."

Trump has condemned Garland naming a special counsel as "appalling" and a "horrendous abuse of power." Meanwhile, Smith, a registered independent, has promised that "the pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch."

Marjorie Taylor Greene moves to impeach Merrick Garland

Misty Severi

August 12, 11:52 PM August 13, 03:04 AM

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) declared that she filed posts of impeachment in opposition to Legal professional General Merrick Garland a day after the Justice Department's leading official announced he personally approved the FBI raid on the Florida household of previous President Donald Trump.

The Republican firebrand, who is a close ally of Trump, claimed Garland is "endangering, undermining and compromising the justice technique" several hours right after a decide unsealed look for warrant files that clearly show the former president is being investigated for a opportunity Espionage Act violation and possible obstruction of justice.

Go through IN Whole: FBI'S UNSEALED Search WARRANT FOR TRUMP MAR-A-LAGO RAID

"What they have been undertaking to [former] President Trump is political persecution," Greene mentioned in a movie she tweeted. "Merrick Garland has abused his position of power as the lawyer common to politically persecute [President] Joe Biden's enemies. And the full function of this is to protect against [former] President Trump from at any time getting ready to keep office. I'm introducing posts of impeachment on Merrick Garland since we can't tolerate this in The united states, where by our terrific institutions are wielded and abused in such a way to impeach people's political enemies."

With Republicans remaining the minority occasion, people articles of impeachment have not gone any place. However, that could before long adjust if the GOP wins manage of the Home in November.

Two articles or blog posts of impeachment are integrated in the image of the resolution shared by Greene. One particular claims Garland politicized the Justice Office, and the other statements the lawyer common has unsuccessful to uphold his oath of workplace and shed the trust of U.S. citizens to "execute the legislation of the United States without the need of partisan bias."

Trump claimed the files have been declassified and, in a statement from his office environment on Friday, claimed there was a "standing purchase" by which he declassified documents that left the Oval Office environment — a claim which is doubted by authorized specialists.

Greene's articles of impeachment had been met with praise by other users of the Republican Celebration, including Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who tweeted his guidance Friday evening. Reps. Mary Miller (R-IL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Andy Harris (R-MD) co-sponsored the impeachment articles, Greene mentioned.

Greene's impeachment articles or blog posts claimed Garland's exertion to unseal the lookup warrant, which was not opposed by Trump in courtroom, "constitutes an endeavor to intimidate, harass, and potentially disqualify a political challenger to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr."

Eleven sets of labeled facts, with some marked as top rated solution, ended up amongst the 20 containers of goods acquired by federal brokers, in accordance to a review of the inventory by the Wall Avenue Journal.

Greene filed articles of impeachment versus President Joe Biden past year, consisting of 3 resolutions. 1 resolution was of "dereliction of responsibility" for Biden's dealing with of the Afghanistan condition, a different for the "border crisis," and a third for "usurping congressional authority and ignoring judicial authority of the Supreme Courtroom" for the Biden administration's eviction moratorium through the coronavirus pandemic. Greene also submitted content articles of impeachment against Biden in January 2021, declaring the president engaged in impeachable offenses connected to his do the job as vice president from 2008 to 2016 and the overseas business enterprise dealings of his son Hunter Biden.

Where's Hunter? Nowhere in NBC's Merrick Garland job interview

Daniel Chaitin

July 26, 09:57 PM July 26, 11:27 PM

NBC News's very predicted job interview with Legal professional Common Merrick Garland appears to have missed a significant opportunity.

While it is attainable Hunter Biden did arrive up in the discussion, and the community could air that aspect of the job interview at a later on date, the federal investigation into the initial son was not pointed out in the Tuesday night time section stretching nearly eight minutes. Considerably of what did air focused on former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 investigation.

Without a doubt, the grownup son of President Joe Biden is the focus of the big investigation at the Division of Justice, and for many Republicans and in suitable-leaning media, it is a topic of consistent headlines, with the same group experience that the relaxation of the mediascape and Significant Tech are largely ignoring and even suppressing a large tale.

GARLAND Doesn't RULE OUT PROSECUTING TRUMP Above JAN. 6

Prosecutors are weighing expenses for alleged tax violations and for making a untrue assertion in relationship to the purchase of a firearm at a time when he really should have been blocked from acquiring these kinds of a weapon for the reason that of a drug habit. A report from CNN just last week on the newest deliberations said the federal investigation has reached a "crucial juncture." The youthful Biden has denied wrongdoing.

Additional, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) unveiled disclosures this 7 days by "very credible whistleblowers" with allegations that the FBI’s investigation into Hunter Biden wrongly labeled verified proof as “disinformation."

On the other hand, Lester Holt's interview with Garland, which was aggressively advertised by NBC on Monday, appears predominantly to have focused on the agency's other significant investigation, the just one analyzing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and endeavours to overturn the 2020 election outcomes.

Holt questioned Garland irrespective of whether Trump could be prosecuted, a go he claimed threatened to "tear the region aside." Garland replied: "Search, we pursue justice without having concern or favor. We intend to keep every person, any person who was criminally responsible for the functions bordering Jan. 6, for any endeavor to interfere with the lawful transfer of energy from a person administration to a different, accountable."

Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, has disparaged investigations into his actions bordering Jan. 6 as political strike work opportunities. But, as the Washington Write-up reported Tuesday evening, the DOJ inquiry is finding critical for him, as prosecutors are asking witnesses issues about conversations with the previous president.

Beyond Jan. 6, the interview as aired also touched on stopping mass shootings and addressing rising criminal offense fees in the United States. There has been no indicator there will be additional excerpts from the job interview to air at a later date as of press time, although Holt ended the phase by stating what aired was "some" of his conversation with Garland.