Attorney General Merrick Garland does not think he should take into account any political fallout when he considers charges against former President Donald Trump related to the unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago.
It was reported by NBC News on Friday that “people familiar” with Garland’s deliberations say the attorney general “does not believe it’s his job to consider the political or social ramifications of indicting a former president, including the potential for violent backlash.” Rather, Garland is reportedly considering “whether the facts and the law support a successful prosecution — and whether anyone else who had done what Trump is accused of doing would have been prosecuted.”
The Washington Post reported late last month that longtime federal prosecutor David Raskin was assisting the Justice Department’s Mar-a-Lago investigation team.
SPECTER OF DOJ INDICTING TRUMP REEMERGES AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Raskin helped obtain a plea from FBI analyst Kendra Kingsbury, who pleaded guilty in October to two counts of unlawful retention of information tied to U.S. national security after she removed and unlawfully held on to 386 classified records.
The search warrant application cover sheet, unsealed in late August, provided more details on what the DOJ was looking for on Aug. 8 when they searched Trump’s Florida resort. The records show Trump was being investigated under 18 U.S.C. 793, part of the Espionage Act, and said it was related to “willful retention of national defense information.” The record also pointed to 18 U.S.C. 2071, specifically the “concealment or removal” of government records, as well as 18 U.S.C. 1519, specifically related to “obstruction” of a federal investigation.
Whether or not the DOJ is considering charging Trump under those or other statutes is not known.
Garland gave a brief speech on Aug. 11, just three days after the Mar-a-Lago raid, in which he said he personally signed off on the search.
“Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing,” Garland said. “All Americans are entitled to the evenhanded application of the law, to due process of the law, and to the presumption of innocence.”
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Garland said that “this is an ongoing investigation, so I’m not really able to comment on it” when asked in October about whether he could guarantee transparency to the public about whether criminal offenses had been committed by Trump, adding that “we speak through our filings in the cases we bring, and that’s the only way we speak.”
The specter of criminal charges against Trump will reemerge as the midterm elections conclude and the former president seemingly moves toward a new presidential bid.
