The specter of criminal charges against Donald Trump will reemerge as the midterm elections conclude and the former president seemingly moves toward a new presidential bid.
The Department of Justice is investigating the former president related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and separately conducted an unprecedented FBI raid of Trump’s Florida resort home of Mar-a-Lago in August. It is not yet known whether the Biden DOJ will charge Trump, although if such charges are incoming, they may have been delayed until after the Senate and House races finish to avoid the perception of interfering in the election.
The former president, who has been holding rallies for Republican candidates across the country, is reportedly considering a rematch against President Joe Biden, and he might declare as early as this month. It remains to be seen how a criminal indictment would affect the race.
“No person is above the law in this country,” Attorney General Merrick Garland declared in July. “I can’t say it any more clearly than that. There is nothing in the principles of prosecution and any other factors which prevent us from investigating anyone — anyone — who is criminally responsible for an attempt to undo a democratic election.”
Garland was asked a few days later about whether he thought the indictment of a former president (and potential presidential candidate) might tear the country apart.
“We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding Jan. 6, for any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another, accountable,” Garland told NBC News. “That’s what we do. We don’t pay any attention to other issues with respect to that.”
Trump Attorney General William Barr released a February 2020 memo that stated the DOJ could not open investigations into candidates for president or presidential campaigns without written approval by the attorney general, and Garland released his own May memo that said DOJ employees “must adhere to” Barr’s memo.
Garland’s memo said prosecutors “may never select the timing of public statements, investigative steps, criminal charges, or any other action… for the purpose of affecting any election.” Barr’s memo said the DOJ “must exercise particular care regarding sensitive investigations and prosecutions that relate to political candidates, campaigns, and other politically sensitive individuals and organizations — especially in an election year.”
The former attorney general has emerged as a critic of Trump and has criticized him over the Capitol riot and for keeping allegedly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Barr said in August that “the evidence is building” as the DOJ investigates Trump related to the events of Jan. 6 but didn’t believe charges were yet merited.
GRASSLEY AND JOHNSON SEND U.S. ATTORNEY EVIDENCE ON HUNTER BIDEN
The former attorney general has repeatedly said there was no fraud in 2020 sufficient to change the outcome of the election, and Garland has called the Capitol riot investigation “the most wide-ranging investigation and the most important investigation” the DOJ has ever conducted. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
“I still don’t see that as a sufficient basis to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed by the president,” Barr said in an interview with CBS News. “But I am sure what they are doing is getting deeper and deeper into it.”
The Trump attorney general said he thought Garland was trying to signal, “Look, I am looking hard at this, and if we find a crime, we will prosecute it.”
The DOJ said last week that more than 880 people have been arrested related to the Capitol riot, including over 270 defendants charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been hit with seditious conspiracy charges and have pleaded not guilty.
The Democratic-led congressional committee investigating Jan. 6 highlighted testimony by Barr in June in which he said fraud claims pushed by Trump in 2020 were “bulls***” and contradicted claims made by Trump and his allies that the race was “stolen” and that Biden didn’t really win.
Biden defeated Trump in the Electoral College 306-232.
Trump responded to Barr’s comments on his Truth Social website by calling his former attorney general “weak and frightened” and calling 2020 a “RIGGED & STOLEN Election.”
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.
Barr also suggested in early September that the DOJ is “very close” to having the evidence to indict Trump related to the Mar-a-Lago raid but added he doesn’t want the department to charge his old boss over it.
“There are two questions: Will the government be able to make out a technical case, will they have evidence by which — that they could indict somebody on, including him?” Barr said during the Fox News interview. “That’s the first question, and I think they’re getting very close to that point, frankly.”
The search warrant application cover sheet, unsealed in late August, provided more details on what the DOJ was looking for. 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.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I think at the end of the day, there’s another question. … Do you indict a former president?” Barr said. “What will that do to the country? What kind of precedent will that set? Will the people really understand that this is not failing to return a library book? That this was serious?”
Barr also said on Fox News that “the government has very strong evidence of what it really needs to determine whether charges are appropriate — which is government documents were taken.”
