Raskin says Jack Smith likely mulling seditious conspiracy charges against Trump

Brady Knox

May 07, 06:57 PM May 07, 06:57 PM

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that Special Counsel Jack Smith may "absolutely" be considering leveling seditious conspiracy charges against former President Donald Trump.

In an appearance on "Inside with Jen Psaki" on MSNBC, Raskin argued that Smith should be charged with seditious conspiracy charges, which is a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He pointed to the latest Proud Boys trial and convictions under the charge as setting a good precedent, stipulating that Trump may have been part of the conspiracy.

RASKIN SAYS HE’LL TAKE THE MONTH OF MAY TO DECIDE ON SENATE BID

"Trump could very much have been part of the Proud Boys or the Oathkeepers conspiracy, or he might have been involved in an overlapping concentric ring conspiracy with those conspiracies," Raskin said. "So we don't have a system of justice, I hope, as I said at the January 6 hearings, where the foot soldiers and the ringleaders down below go to jail and the ringleaders above get a free pass and get to continue their insurrectionist assault on democratic institutions."

The Maryland Democrat went on to praise the work of the Department of Justice, pointing to the number of arrests and convictions as proof that an insurrection took place.

"So we've seen a lot of justice take place here," Raskin said. "The Department of Justice has been doing an excellent job. More than 1000 arrests. Hundreds of convictions have taken place. More than a dozen people have been convicted of seditious conspiracy completely refuting those who said well how could this be an insurrection if nobody was trying to overthrow the government? Well, now they have their answer. More than a dozen people have been convicted of that."

He also pointed to the unsuccessful second impeachment of the president as evidence that Trump had taken part in an insurrection.

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"And Donald Trump, of course, was impeached by a 232 vote margin in the House for inciting insurrection against the union and 57 of 100 senators agreed that he had incited an insurrection against the union," Raskin said. "We didn't reach the magic two-thirds number to convict the president, and yet we have robust concurrent majorities of both houses of Congress declaring that that's precisely what he did. As a matter of constitutional fact."

Raskin served as a member of the Jan. 6 Committee, repeatedly arguing that Trump had led an insurrection against the United States government, and should likewise be charged as such.

Republicans worry Trump's 'defund the FBI' push could hurt their crime message

Samantha-Jo Roth

April 10, 04:32 AM April 10, 04:32 AM

Former President Donald Trump called for Republicans on Capitol Hill to cut funding for the FBI and Justice Department after his indictment, potentially affecting the GOP's tough-on-crime messaging.

Trump's comments came not only amid his own criminal charges in New York but also broader conservative concerns about the "weaponization" of the legal and criminal justice systems.

TRUMP CALLS FOR DEFUNDING FBI AND DOJ WHILE PARTY OPPOSES DEFUNDING THE POLICE

The former president said Congress should “DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES” in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday responding to the Justice Department’s investigation of whether he mishandled classified documents at his personal residence and whether he incited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The post also came after Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, endorsed a similar following the initial reports about Trump's New York indictment, saying Congress could consider cutting the funding of federal agencies he thinks are interfering with elections

“We control the power of the purse, and ... we’re gonna have to look at the appropriations process and limit funds going to some of these agencies, particularly the ones who are engaging in the most egregious behavior,” Jordan said in an interview on WHD News.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has already given Jordan permission to examine federal funding for prosecutors like Manhattan's Alvin Bragg investigating Trump.

“I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” McCarthy tweeted on March 18.

After Trump’s arraignment Tuesday, McCarthy tweeted the investigation “used federal funds” and vowed “Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress.”

Republicans have championed the message this year that Democrats and the Biden administration are weak on crime after violent crime is up nationwide, especially in major cities, where Democrats have their main support base. Last year, Gallup found that a record 56% of people reported crime had gone up in their area, which was the highest uptick since the poll first started asking the question in 1972. A follow-up survey in January found that 72% of people expected crime to continue to rise this year. In the nation's capital, homicides were up 30% over last year.

While the majority of Republicans have criticized Bragg’s case against Trump as politically motivated, experts and strategists are sounding the alarm over Trump’s call to cut federal law enforcement money amid what appears to be a national crime wave.

“Republicans, regardless of what they have said about the indictments and so forth, most of which I agree with, don’t want the topic of the day to be Donald Trump. That’s enough of a problem,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and former communications director at the Republican National Committee. “When Trump then forces something like essentially saying defund the police, because when you’re making grand pronouncements, nuance is lost. When Democrats have said, 'Oh, I don’t want to defund the police; that’s not what I meant' — Trump is potentially putting Republicans in that same position.”

Heye recommends Republicans, especially those in swing districts, should come out powerfully against Trump’s defund the Justice Department and FBI message.

“They absolutely should. Nuance gets lost in things like this. You can have hearings, you can investigate, but when you’re talking about defunding the FBI, that’s talking about defunding the police. That gets directly in the way of the rule of law messaging,” Heye added.

Of the 18 House Republicans who represent districts President Joe Biden won in 2020, few of them have publicly rejected Trump’s demand to defund law enforcement so far. According to PunchBowl News, only Reps. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Young King (R-CA), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) have made it clear they do not support Trump’s calls to defund the Justice Department and FBI.

The comments from Trump come against the backdrop of a looming summer showdown over raising the debt limit, which will include a lengthy battle over spending levels and priorities. House Republicans could attempt to cut funding for those federal agencies in major spending legislation, complicating the efforts of their narrow majority to pass a funding bill. In his bid to become House speaker, McCarthy promised holdouts the chamber would pass major cuts in fiscal 2024 appropriations bills. Senate Democrats and even Republicans also likely will not go along with any of those cuts.

“That absolutely will never happen,” said a Senate Republican aide who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “We already are dealing with an absolute mess on the House side with them trying to negotiate a debt ceiling increase. We do not need another issue like this haunting us in the next election."

Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases

March 26, 04:38 PM March 26, 04:41 PM

CHICAGO (WHD) — Rejon Taylor hoped the election of Joe Biden, the first U.S. president to campaign on a pledge to end the death penalty, would mean a more sympathetic look at his claims that racial bias and other trial errors landed him on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana.

But two years on, Justice Department attorneys under Biden are fighting the Black man’s efforts to reverse his 2008 death sentence for killing a white restaurateur as hard as they did under Donald Trump, who oversaw 13 executions in his presidency’s final months.

“Every legal means they have available they’re using to fight us,” said the 38-year-old’s lawyer, Kelley Henry. “It’s business as usual.”

Death penalty opponents expected Biden to act within weeks of taking office to fulfill his 2020 campaign promise to end capital punishment on the federal level and to work at ending it in states that still carry out executions. Instead, Biden has taken no steps toward fulfilling that promise.

But it’s not just inaction by Biden. An review of dozens of legal filings shows Biden’s Justice Department is fighting vigorously in courts to maintain the sentences of death row inmates, even after Attorney General Merrick Garland temporarily paused executions. Lawyers for some of the over 40 death row inmates say they’ve seen no meaningful changes to the Justice Department’s approach under Biden and Trump.

“They’re fighting back as much as they ever have,” said Ruth Friedman, head of the defender unit that oversees federal death row cases. “If you say my client has an intellectual disability, the government ... says, ‘No, he does not.’ If you say ‘I’d like (new evidence),’ they say, ‘You aren’t entitled to it.’”

Administration efforts to uphold death sentences for white supremacist Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black church-goers, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are better known. Lower-profile cases, like Taylor’s, have drawn less scrutiny.

The Justice Department confirmed that since Biden’s inauguration it hasn’t agreed with a single claim of racial bias or errors that could lead to the overturning of a federal death sentence.

It’s a thorny political issue. While Americans increasingly oppose capital punishment, it is deeply entrenched. And as Biden eyes a 2024 run, it’s unlikely he’ll make capital punishment a signature issue given his silence on it as president.

In announcing the 2021 moratorium, Garland noted concerns about how capital punishment disproportionately impacts people of color and the “arbitrariness” — or lack of consistency — in its application. He hasn’t authorized a single new death penalty case and has reversed decisions by previous administrations to seek it in 27 cases.

Garland recently decided not to pursue death for Patrick Crusius, who killed nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at a Texas Walmart. His lawyers have said he had “severe, lifelong neurological and mental disabilities.” He could still be sentenced to death under state charges.

Garland also took the death penalty off the table for a man accused in 11 killings as part of a drug trafficking ring.

Defense lawyers say that makes it all the more jarring that Garland’s department is fighting to uphold some death sentences. In one case, Norris Holder was sentenced to death for a two-man bank robbery during which a security guard died, even though prosecutors said Holder may not have fired the fatal shot.

Prosecutors decide before trial whether or not to seek the death penalty, and current death row inmates were all tried under previous administrations. Prosecutors have less leeway after a jury’s verdict than before trial.

Court challenges after trials are also often not about whether it was appropriate to pursue the death penalty, but whether there were legal or procedural problems at trial that make the sentence invalid.

“It’s a very different analysis when a conviction has been entered, a jury has spoken,” said Nathan Williams, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted Roof. “There has to be a respect for the appellate process and the legal approaches that can be taken.”

A Justice Department spokesman said prosecutors “have an obligation to enforce the law, including by defending lawfully obtained jury verdicts on appeal.” The department is working to ensure “fair and even-handed administration of the law in capital-eligible cases,” he said.

Inmate lawyers dispute that prosecutors have no choice but to dig in their heels, saying multiple mechanisms have always existed for them to fix past errors.

Justice officials announced this month that they wouldn’t pursue death in the resentencing of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., convicted of killing North Dakota student Dru Sjodin. But that only happened after a judge vacated the original death sentence.

Notably in 2021, the department agreed with lawyers for Wesley Coonce, sentenced to death for killing a fellow inmate in a mental health unit, that lower courts should look again at intellectual disability questions in his case. But the Supreme Court disagreed, declining to hear his case or remand it to lower courts.

Seven federal defendants are still facing possible death sentences.

The first federal death penalty case tried under Biden ended this month. The jury was divided, meaning the life of Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight people in a terrorist attack on a New York bike path, will be spared. Trump made the decision to seek death and Garland allowed the case to move forward.

Garland’s criteria for letting some capital cases proceed isn’t clear, though the department often consults victims’ families. Some feel strongly that suspected or convicted killers should face death.

Inmate attorneys have asked for all capital cases to get a fresh look. Garland has appeared to take one step in that direction.

The department this year restored written guidance emphasizing that staff can be proactive in fixing egregious errors in capital cases, though none has invoked that option. Garland also re-set processes in which capital defendants can, in certain circumstances, ask the department to consent to their bids for relief.

Taylor was charged with killing restaurant owner Guy Luck in 2003. His lawyers say the 18 year old “discharged his gun in a panic” as Luck tried to grab a gun inside a van in Tennessee.

The prosecution described Taylor to his almost entirely white jury as a “wolf” whom they had an “obligation” to kill. An alternate later said some jurors were determined to get Taylor, recalling: “It was like, here’s this little Black boy. Let’s send him to the chair.”

An appeals court rejected Taylor’s bias claims in 2016, though a dissenting judge said courts must be especially diligent to guard against bias when a defendant is Black and the victim white. She also said Taylor didn’t seem to be among the worst of the worst, for whom death sentences are reserved.

Taylor revived the bias claims, though the department hasn’t directly addressed them. It has rejected many of his separate claims.

As the 2024 election looms — and with the chance of someone even less sympathetic to their claims entering the Oval Office — death row inmates know the clock is ticking.

“Trump ran out of time during his killing spree,” Taylor told the WHD via a prison email system. If elected again, “I don’t think he’d waste any time in continuing where he’d left off.”

Five Biden administration investigations House Republicans plot to launch in 2023

Cami Mondeaux

January 02, 07:00 AM January 02, 07:00 AM

As Republicans prepare to take control of the House for the first time in four years, party leaders are already teeing up a number of investigations into several Biden administration officials regarding their conduct.

Soon after the GOP won the House majority, top Republicans such as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) have expressed their intent to investigate President Joe Biden's White House on a variety of fronts, ranging from the southern border to Hunter Biden’s laptop.

HERE ARE THE 42 BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS HOUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE PUT ON NOTICE

Here are five of the top investigations House Republicans are eyeing once they take control of the lower chamber and which officials have been put on notice:

Joe Biden and the Afghanistan withdrawal

One of the first investigations Republicans are expected to open is related to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in September 2021, during which the country airlifted more than 12,000 people out of the country as the Taliban quickly seized control of the government. The operation has been heavily scrutinized, particularly after a suicide attack outside the Kabul airport left 13 Americans and roughly 200 Afghans dead.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, sent letters to a number of government agencies requesting documentation and other materials related to the troop withdrawal, accusing the Biden administration of committing obstruction. Comer has sent letters to the State Department, the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) requesting internal communications or any related information about the planning of the September 2021 troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Oversight Committee is particularly interested in investigating the decision to conduct airlifts out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport and to permit the Taliban to be responsible for the airport’s security. Lawmakers will also investigate the lack of planning to help relocate refugees who were taken out of Afghanistan.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and the COVID-19 pandemic

Near the top of Republicans’ list of priorities is investigating the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. response under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci over the last three years.

Republicans have long criticized Fauci for his response to the pandemic, particularly surrounding theories as to how the coronavirus originated and spread from Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and early 2020. GOP lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee already opened their own investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in 2019, requesting “an independent, expert investigation of the origin of COVID-19,” according to a letter they sent then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins.

Republicans on that committee have since called on the NIH to preserve all records and communications related to the pandemic for review early next year, criticizing the agency for failing to respond to earlier requests for information.

Hunter Biden and his laptop

Hunter Biden’s business dealings have long been of interest to the Republican Party, first taking prominence during the 2020 election as the GOP sought to determine whether then-candidate Joe Biden benefited financially from his son’s transactions, pointing to national security concerns.

Republicans on the House committee have been seeking to advance their investigation into Hunter Biden for months, particularly after obtaining a copy of his hard drive. The hard drive has been of interest due to its salacious content, although Republicans are expected to focus mostly on his family’s business dealings to determine whether President Joe Biden has knowingly benefited from his son’s financial deals.

The FBI took possession of the hardware after the owner, believed to be Hunter Biden, left it for repairs in April 2019 and never returned.

Hunter Biden's financial affairs, including business dealings tied to countries such as Ukraine, China, and Russia, are under scrutiny in a federal criminal investigation. The president’s son has never publicly denied that the laptop belonged to him but has insisted he is "100% certain" he will be cleared of wrongdoing.

Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and his campaign told reporters in 2020 that he “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”

Alejandro Mayorkas and the southern border

Republicans are also to focus on the influx of immigrants coming into the United States from the southern border, which has significantly increased under the Biden administration.

Republicans have previously demanded DHS officials preserve documents pertaining to the border, with some GOP lawmakers considering impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once they take control of the House.

U.S. border officials encountered more than 2 million immigrants at the southern border during fiscal 2022, an increase from 1.7 million encounters the year before.

The House Judiciary Committee has already notified Mayorkas they will be seeking his testimony early into the next Congress, as well as the testimony of 10 other DHS officials.

Merrick Garland and bias within the Department of Justice

In a letter sent to the Department of Justice, House Republicans informed Garland they would be seeking the testimony of 15 officials — the most of any of the departments that received the Nov. 18 notices.

The testimony is likely to be in reference to the department’s handling of its investigations into Donald Trump because Republicans have accused the department of being politically biased against the former president. Republicans’ investigations are expected to focus on the raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, during which the FBI and DOJ obtained several boxes of classified White House documents.

The DOJ is investigating possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice in its inquiry about the Mar-a-Lago documents, according to court documents. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

That investigation is likely to coincide with a similar inquiry into the FBI to determine whether the agency holds political bias against Trump.

Top Republicans refusing to come to Trump's defense after criminal referrals

Ryan King

December 20, 07:56 AM December 20, 08:24 AM

A number of top Senate Republicans are refusing to come to former President Donald Trump's defense in the wake of the Jan. 6 committee making a number of criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

After the referrals were made Monday, top party officials refused to defend Trump, sidestepped questions about the former president's woes, and called for the DOJ to have the final say on what happens next.

“The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day. Beyond that, I don’t have any immediate observations," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declared in response to questions about the referrals.

'THESE FOLKS DON'T GET IT': TRUMP DISMISSES JAN. 6 CRIMINAL REFERRALS, SAYS IT ONLY MAKES HIM STRONGER

On Monday, the Jan. 6 committee unveiled criminal referrals for Trump to the Department of Justice on four categories of criminal conduct: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and inciting an insurrection.

Trump unsuccessfully prodded Senate Republicans to oust McConnell, but the Kentucky sage managed to overcome an effort to usurp his seat from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) earlier this year. Some Republicans aligned with him echoed similar sentiments.

“It’s up to Justice now,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) said, per the Hill. “[The panel] interviewed some credible witnesses.”

“I think the referrals are not as important as the report. The report’s important, even though it came out of a partisan process,” Sen Rob Portman (R-OH) told the outlet. "The testimony is the testimony, and they were able to get the testimony from most of the people they wanted — not everybody but most — and I think most of the significant figures.”

Back in early 2021, seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump and remove him from office during the second impeachment for his actions surrounding the Capitol riot — a higher rate of party defections than in the House. Unsurprisingly, many of those senators appeared open-minded to the referral.

“I am not a lawyer and certainly not a prosecutor,” outgoing Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who voted to convict, said, the Hill reported. “I don’t know the legal basis of it, but you know what I think of what the president did that day."

“Obviously they spent considerable time and [went into] great detail over many months they have investigated this,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) contended, according to the Hill. “I think it’s going to be important for us to read this report that will be coming out Wednesday."

Trump himself shrugged off the referrals, proclaiming "what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger," and chalked up the development as "a partisan attempt to sideline me and the Republican Party." Criminal referrals are ultimately nonbinding. It will be up to the DOJ to decide whether or not to bring forward charges.

Special counsel Jack Smith has been appointed to oversee the DOJ's sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 riot and coinciding efforts to overturn the 2020 election — an inquiry done in tandem with the Jan. 6 committee's review. He is expected to weigh criminal charges against Trump in that matter, as well as the other investigation he is overseeing pertaining to the Mar-a-Lago document saga.

The Jan. 6 committee is expected to release the final report of its findings on Wednesday.

Georgia man pleads guilty to racially motivated shooting spree in convenience stores

Ryan King

December 17, 11:42 AM December 17, 11:42 AM

A man from Georgia pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime and a firearms violation for a shooting rampage in two convenience stories where he hoped to kill patrons due to their race and ethnicity, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Larry Foxworth, 48, fired off multiple rounds in two Clayton County, Georgia, stores back on July 30, 2021, in an incident that did not kill or injure anyone and was arrested shortly after the second attack, according to the DOJ. While in custody, he "professed belief in white supremacist ideology" and voiced hope that he killed his targets.

BUFFALO SHOOTER PLEADS GUILTY TO 15 CHARGES, INCLUDING TERRORISM AND MURDER

“Foxworth used a firearm to commit a heinous hate crime that traumatized his victims as well as the communities who rely on these businesses,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia said, per the DOJ. “The vigorous prosecution of such abhorrent acts of violence and intimidation with the assistance of our federal partners is a top priority for this office.”

Under the plea agreement, Foxworth could face between 20 and 25 years in prison, and the sentencing is slated for March 16, 2023. The attacks were conducted with a Glock pistol and took place in a Shell gas station convenience store on Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro, Georgia, and a nearby BP gas station convenience store, per the DOJ.

Both stores were open at the time of the rampage. Clayton County police apprehended Foxworth and conducted an investigation alongside the FBI. Foxworth confessed to targeting "black people and others who he perceived to be Arab."

“Hate-fueled violent crimes ripple through communities, making entire groups feel unsafe and unwelcome, spawning fear and anger," special agent in charge Keri Farley of the FBI Atlanta Field Office said. “Prosecuting hate crimes is a top priority of the FBI. We will not back down from obtaining justice for victims of hate-based violence.”

“No one should have to live in fear of being targeted for deadly violence because they are Black or Arab American,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division added. “This conviction should make clear that the Justice Department stands ready to prosecute any individual who carries out a violent hate-motivated crime in our country.”

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.

BIDEN'S 80TH BIRTHDAY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT 2024 POLITICAL VIABILITY

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."

SEE IT: Taylor Swift breaks silence, hammers TicketMaster for ticket sale blunders

Julia Johnson

November 18, 02:23 PM November 18, 02:23 PM

Taylor Swift broke her silence Friday on the botched presales for her tour, which led to the general sale being canceled altogether by TicketMaster.

“Well. It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans. We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in house,” she began in the statement posted to Instagram.

TICKETMASTER CANCELS GENERAL SALE FOR TAYLOR SWIFT, LAWMAKERS TARGET TICKETING GIANT

“I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do. It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse," Swift said.

She added that there were many reasons why the process was so difficult and that her team was working on how to avoid this scenario in the future. Swift did express gratitude for the more than 2 million fans who were able to secure tickets but lamented that the process was so grating.

"It really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them," the singer said.

On Thursday, Liberty Media CEO and Live Nation Chairman Greg Maffei told CNBC that the demand was unprecedented. He further pinned the blame on Swift for not having toured in years.

As a result of the fiasco, tens of thousands have penned letters to the Department of Justice, urging an antitrust investigation into TicketMaster. Several politicians have also called on the DOJ to investigate, citing ticketing problems for Swift's tour.

Uvalde college police chief Pete Arredondo specific with on the internet loss of life threats

Anna Giaritelli

June 03, 03:10 PM June 03, 03:10 PM

AUSTIN, Texas — World wide web trolls are more and more contacting for Uvalde faculty law enforcement main Pete Arredondo to be killed for how he appeared to have directed his officers to reply to the mass shooting last week.

Users across weblogs and social media channels say Arredondo, who instructed his university law enforcement officers not to enter Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas, in spite of calls for rescue from kids and workers trapped inside, ought to be hanged from a tree, shot and remaining for dead, and stoned.

"Peter Arredondo Chief of Police for UCIS is A Coward & Moron. And so are the 19 officers who waited in the hallway whilst kids ended up Murdered. We do not want A DOJ investigation. We will need 19 Ropes and a tall limb on a tree To Dangle ALL THE COWARD COPS. We need some useless pigs!!!" just one Twitter user wrote.

A different individual stated he "ought to be shot and left for useless for 1hr. 3 minutes," a reference to the length of time that crisis responders were notified of the capturing but did not react.

"He really should be in entrance of a firing squad!" a person Gab consumer wrote Thursday.

6 Queries AS INVESTIGATORS PROBE UVALDE Law enforcement Response TO Capturing

"This bloated PIG ought to publicly stoned and buried even though respiration," an additional user wrote. Another individual referred to as for him to be arrested and to "publicly cling his a**."

People on Bitchute wrote that Arredondo ought to be "billed with the MURDER of each kid who died," even though another reported it deserved the demise penalty.

A New York Situations report posted Friday located that Arredondo experienced arrived at the college precisely two minutes immediately after the attack started, but he chose not to go after the gunman, as an alternative deciding upon to retreat soon after his officers had been grazed with bullets. Arredondo, who did not have a law enforcement radio on him and so had no way of figuring out that 911 dispatchers ongoing to acquire calls from small children within for the up coming hour, as an alternative dealt with the problem as steady and not an energetic capturing. He thought the gunman was barricaded inside of the classroom.

Arredondo has 24-hour police security in light-weight of the developing target on the job he performed in how the incident was taken care of. He was sworn in as a city councilman in a private ceremony earlier this 7 days, opting not to have the occasion in public. The Texas Office of Community Basic safety has billed that Arredondo is not cooperating with its Texas Rangers investigators.

In the first days soon after the taking pictures, some social media people termed for the "doxxing" of the law enforcement, a phrase applied to explain the public launch of private information with malicious intent.

The FBI informed the Washington Examiner on Friday it could not ensure or deny any investigation or the tracking of threats in opposition to Arredondo.