A.G. Merrick Garland Resisted Investigating Trump's Connection to January 6: Washington Post
By: Conde Nast (Vanity Fair)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Justice Department opted to go after Capitol rioters in a "bottom-up" strategy.
June 19, 2023U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski/Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySave
The Department of Justice delayed plans to investigate Donald Trump and his associates' links to January 6 and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a bombshell investigative report by The Washington Post.
It took nearly a year after the Capitol attack for a DOJ inquiry to commence, and the FBI only opened its investigation into the fake electors' plot in April 2022.
The Post attributed the DOJ's slow-walking to "a wariness about appearing partisan, institutional caution, and clashes over how much evidence was sufficient to investigate the actions of Trump and those around him."
High-ranking officials at the DOJ, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and FBI Director Christopher Wray remained wed to this approach "even as evidence emerged of an organized, weeks-long effort by Trump and his advisers before Jan. 6 to pressure state leaders, Justice officials, and Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Biden's victory."
"A decision was made early on to focus DOJ resources on the riot," one former Justice Department official familiar with internal debates over department strategy told the Post. "The notion of opening up on Trump and high-level political operatives was seen as fraught with peril. When Lisa [Monaco] and Garland came on board, they were fully onboard with that approach."
The strategy came even as Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. during the early months of 2021, promised soon after the attack that prosecutors were "looking at all actors, not only the people who went into the building."
The approach generated dissension within DOJ ranks. The Post investigation revealed that "some prosecutors" below Garland and Monaco "chafed, feeling top officials were shying away from looking at evidence of potential crimes by Trump and those close to him."
Department employees tasked with putting together briefing materials for the attorney general and his deputy were told to steer clear of mentioning Trump or Trump allies. One former Justice official told the Post, "You couldn't use the T word."
"You can take it to the extreme," Peter Zeidenberg, who was part of a special counsel probe of the Bush White House in the 2000s, said of the department's desire to avoid the appearance of political impropriety. "You work so hard not to be a partisan that you're failing to do your job," he told the Post.
When the DOJ finally began investigating the fake elector scheme in early 2022, the bipartisan House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack was already conducting its own inquiry into top Trump officials and allies. The Post quoted a person familiar with internal DOJ discussions who "felt as though the department was reacting to the House committee's work as well as heightened media coverage and commentary," drawing attention to the scheme. "Only after they were embarrassed did they start looking," the person said.
Tags
Who is online
482 visitors
As sad as this is, it is absolute counter evidence to the preposterous claim that the DOJ is persecuting Trump. To the contrary.
WEAPONIZING THE DOJ !
To what, walk on eggshells because Trump could possibly start an internal fissure that could have increased our ever so deep divisions...?
Fuck that ! The Republican Party is WHY this ass clown mentl midget cult leader was out probably shopping our countries most secret and sensitive secrets to bidders, and regular folk who needed cheap paper to potty train their puppies
The GOP and Trump disgraced our Nation, and have endangered so many and so much, that it IS A CRIME. Look the other way so we don't have to say what should have been said YEARS AGO !
Hopefully, Trump will soon be a bad memory really really soon, but never soon the fck enuff
No matter what happened, the republicans were going to start yelling about a partisan witch hunt.
sounds so uncharacteristic of them though...
No surprise that the DoJ factors politics into its decisions.
That should never happen, but politics is a great inhibitor to doing what is right.
Not surprised that politics came into the decision. That really isn't acceptable to me but sadly that's the world we live in.
Funny how leftists have no problem with politics entering into legal decisions- so long as it only involves going after conservatives.
Two tier justice at it's finest.
Tin horn dictators the world over are taking notes on how the Brandon administration is doing it.
Where do you get this crap? Do you even bother to read comments?
[removed]
You believe Garland actually resisted investigating Trump. Complete and utter BS.
He was just waiting for the Jan 6th committee to complete their "investigation". Couldn't have a DOJ investigation conflicting with Pelosi's hand picked TDS driven Jan 6th committee narrative. Or deny them access to any "evidence".
There was never a single moment anyone without TDS didn't believe that Garland wasn't going after Trump for Jan 6th.
The entire "Garland was forced into launching an investigation Trump for Jan 6th" is nothing more than a leftist fairy tale to make themselves feel better. "See the DOJ and Garland are completely fair and unbiased. They really didn't want to go after Trump. They had to be shamed into it!"
I suspect that Garland was very careful in the moves he made with a former PotUS. Why would you think otherwise (of any AG)?
What are you talking about? I have not made mention of anything like that. But my opinion is that Garland absolutely should investigate Trump for his Big Lie campaign and bring charges if appropriate.
Ever since the slide down the escalator everything concerning Trump has been 'the pussy foot'.
Even to this very date, June 20, 2023 there has not been a look or examination into his financials. Apparently it is forbidden to 'follow the money' with anything connected to Trump.