When the Justice Department was announcing the highest-profile prosecution in its history in Washington, Attorney General Merrick Garland was 100 miles away, meeting with local police in Philadelphia.
He stepped outside briefly to speak about how the decision to indict Donald Trump for conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election came from career prosecutors and was led by a special counsel committed to 害羞草研究所渁ccountability and independence.害羞草研究所�
In other words, this wasn害羞草研究所檛 about politics.
Try as Garland might, though, there is no escaping the politics of the moment when the Justice Department of a president who is running for reelection is indicting his chief political rival, the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
And though he has distanced himself from the investigation since he appointed special counsel Jack Smith 10 months ago, Garland has the last word on matters related to the prosecution of Trump as long as he is the attorney general.
The Justice Department is facing its biggest test in history 害羞草研究所� navigating unprecedented conditions in American democracy while trying to fight back against relentless attacks on its own credibility and that of the U.S. election system. The success or failure of the case has the potential to affect the standing of the department for years to come.
害羞草研究所淚n grand terms this is a really huge historic moment for the Department of Justice,害羞草研究所� said Wendy Weiser, vice president for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
President Joe Biden has sought to distance himself from the Justice Department to avoid any appearance of meddling when the agency is not only probing Trump, but also the president害羞草研究所檚 son Hunter. But it害羞草研究所檚 going to get more challenging for Biden, too. Anything he says about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol from now on could complicate matters for prosecutors. And any trial is likely to take place against the backdrop of the 2024 presidential election.
The latest indictment is the third criminal case filed against Trump this year, but the first to try to hold him criminally responsible for his efforts to cling to power in the weeks between his election loss and the Capitol attack that stunned the world. He pleaded not guilty on Thursday before a federal magistrate judge and was ordered not to speak about the case with any potential witnesses.
Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has accused Smith of trying to thwart his chances of returning to the White House in 2024. Trump and other Republicans have railed against the investigation and the Justice Department in general, claiming a two-tiered system of justice that vilifies Trump and goes easy on Biden害羞草研究所檚 son, who was accused of tax crimes after a yearslong probe.
害羞草研究所淎nother dark day in America as Joe Biden continues to weaponize his corrupt Department of Justice against his leading political opponent Donald J. Trump,害羞草研究所� said U.S. Rep Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
Trump害羞草研究所檚 own Justice Department was subject to complaints of politicization, drawing heavy criticism as the federal probe of Russia害羞草研究所檚 2016 election interference thrust prosecutors center stage and dragged out scandals that Trump seized on as proof of a 害羞草研究所渄eep state害羞草研究所� operating against him.
The release of the Russia report by special counsel Robert Mueller was colored by politics, with then-Attorney General William Barr issuing a four-page memo ahead of the report that was widely criticized as spinning the investigation害羞草研究所檚 findings in favor of Trump. Mueller害羞草研究所檚 actual report 害羞草研究所� two volumes and 448 pages 害羞草研究所� was far more nuanced and laid out in part how Trump directed others to influence or curtail the Russia investigation after the special counsel害羞草研究所檚 appointment in May 2017.
On Nov. 9, 2020, as Trump began to suggest with no evidence there might be widespread voter fraud, Barr issued a directive pushing prosecutors to investigate any suspected instances. But by the waning days of the Trump administration Barr had turned against Trump, telling The Associated Press before he told the president that there had been no widespread election fraud.
Garland, a longtime federal appeals court judge who had been Barack Obama害羞草研究所檚 choice for the U.S. Supreme Court but never got a hearing, was chosen by President Biden to be a stabilizing force. He promised to return the Justice Department to 害羞草研究所渘ormal,害羞草研究所� restoring its reputation for political independence and ensuring equal justice.
Throughout his career, Garland has been steeped in Justice Department procedures and norms, and as a judge his decisions were thorough but 害羞草研究所渏udicially modest,害羞草研究所� said Jamie Gorelick, a lawyer who served as deputy attorney general in the 1990s and has been a Garland colleague and friend for decades.
害羞草研究所淗is view was, you do what you need to thoroughly and well and you don害羞草研究所檛 reach, you don害羞草研究所檛 do more than you have to do,害羞草研究所� she said.
While Garland hasn害羞草研究所檛 been directly involved with the Trump case since naming Smith as special counsel, the indictment handed down Tuesday reflects a similar approach, she said. 害羞草研究所淚t doesn害羞草研究所檛 rely on crazy new theories. It does not try to do more when less would be more effective,害羞草研究所� she said.
Indeed, the indictment covered much of same ground that played out on live TV, or was unearthed in the House investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection, where violent protesters beat and bloodied police officers, smashed through windows and occupied the Capitol for hours.
If Smith loses the case, the Justice Department could lose credibility, particularly as the barrage of Republican attacks against the department grows. If prosecutors win, a former president could see time behind bars. If Trump is reelected, he could undo the charges and has said he plans to 害羞草研究所渃ompletely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI,害羞草研究所� part of a larger effort by Trump to push more power toward the presidency.
害羞草研究所淭here are pieces now in play that the Justice Department is going to continue to take on for years to come,害羞草研究所� said Robert Sanders, a senior lecturer of national security at the University of New Haven. 害羞草研究所淭he next 12 months are going to be a critical stage in the history of this nation.害羞草研究所�
Against that fraught backdrop, the broader work of the department goes on.
On the same day Trump was arraigned in Washington, federal prosecutors announced guilty pleas in a racist assault on two Black men who were brutalized during a home raid in Mississippi. And U.S. officials also announced the arrest of two U.S. Navy soldiers for spying for China in California.
Garland, during his Philadelphia visit, went almost immediately back to the community event he害羞草研究所檇 gone there to observe, chatting with police officers outside, as reporters shouted questions about the unprecedented indictment. But Garland wouldn害羞草研究所檛 bite.
害羞草研究所淚 appointed Jack Smith special council to take on the ongoing investigation in order to underline the department害羞草研究所檚 commitment to accountability and independence,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淎ny questions about this matter will have to be answered by the filings made in the courtroom.害羞草研究所�
Colleen Long And Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press
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