Republican lawmakers denounced the Biden administration’s decision to appoint a special counsel to oversee the Department of Justice’s investigations of former President Donald Trump.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment on Friday afternoon. The special counsel will decide whether Trump should face charges as the DOJ investigates the former president over his handling of government records as well as his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS NO POLITICIZATION OR BIDEN NOTICE OF TRUMP SPECIAL COUNSEL
The decision comes just days after Trump announced he would mount a third bid for the White House. Biden, his 2020 rival, intends to run for reelection in 2024.
Garland, speaking during a press conference, said the appointment of a special counsel, revealed to be career prosecutor Jack Smith, is in the public interest given “the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well.”
The attorney general said the decision “underscores the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said the appointment was an “admission” there was a conflict of interest in the Biden administration’s investigations of Trump, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) seized on the news to attack the DOJ as “completely weaponized.”
“3 days ago, Trump announced and now a Special Counsel. This is Trump derangement syndrome but this time with a gun and badge,” Cruz tweeted.
This is an admission of a conflict of interest by DOJ; now acknowledge the obvious conflict of interest in Hunter Biden investigation and appoint a special counsel. #nodoublestandard https://t.co/bmypUxWcTk
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 18, 2022
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called for Garland to be impeached. The firebrand lawmaker introduced a bill last year to impeach Biden, on which she remains the only sponsor.
IMPEACH MERRICK GARLAND!
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene?? (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
“Republicans will need to refuse to appropriate any funding to Merrick Garland’s Special Counsel and defund any part of the DOJ acting on behalf of the Democrat party as a taxpayer funded campaign arm for the Democrat’s 2024 presidential nominee,” she tweeted.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is making a bid for speaker of the House, has urged restraint regarding calls from hard-line members of his party to impeach Biden officials. Nonetheless, he reiterated his pledge Friday that a Republican-led House will hold the Biden administration “accountable.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, told the Washington Examiner one day ahead of the announcement that Garland’s move to appoint a special counsel would be politically fraught.
“He should appoint a Republican. Otherwise, if you appoint just another Democrat, no one’s going to buy it,” he said. “You have a situation where the person you’re investigating is a declared candidate against your boss. … If Joe Biden is not going to be a candidate for reelection, I think that lowers the risk.”
Democrats defended Garland’s appointment as appropriate and fair.
“I am confident that Special Counsel Smith will pursue justice in these investigations without fear or favor, following the facts and the law wherever they lead,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said in a statement. “The Attorney General’s decision is a far cry from the approach of the previous President and AG, who treated DOJ as the President’s personal law firm — and weaponized the Department to punish the President’s political enemies and reward his political allies.”
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Trump blasted the DOJ’s move.
“I have been going through this for six years — for six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “And I hope the Republicans have the courage to fight this.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) echoed the former president’s sentiment, expressing concern that the investigations will hang over the 2024 elections.
“I have experience with both special counsels and independent prosecutors. They take forever to investigate and make a decision,” he said. “This news is unfortunate for our justice system and democracy.”
David Drucker contributed to this report.
