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Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel to lead the Justice Department's criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump has angered Republicans, who are unhappy with the agency's federal government involvement in politics since the 2016 election.
But Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) have called for Garland to be fired and suspended from the Trump Justice Department investigation, which will test the commitment of President Joe Biden, a new Republican, to respect the agency's independence, especially with the agency. For a party. Accommodation. Most want to keep their promise to send their child to study.
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Former Arkansas US Attorney Bud Cummins reiterated his opposition to Garland's "dodgy" political prosecution and that "nothing" will restore his and the Justice Department's reputation, including the FBI's, top-down reform.
"A real political prosecutor can create situations where decisions are made for the right reasons and no one questions them," Kumin told the Washington Examiner . But the DOJ's history, at least since 2016, is highly biased and lacks any credibility. A special prosecutor won't change that. Things can get worse."
Cummins, Trump's 2016 campaign chairman in Arkansas and a member of the White House transition team, has an underlying dislike of the special counsel, who has been "working with staff" for months under constant pressure. Republicans point to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in this election, while Democrats point to independent counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation into former President Bill Clinton's Whitewater real estate.
"They're quietly struggling to close cases that don't exist, and the scope of the investigation is inevitably going to get wider and wider," Cummins said. “We cannot accept the tendency to use this public resource only to investigate political opponents. This has to stop.
Trump had hoped that his announcement last week of his bid for a third term would complicate the Justice Department's investigation into him. But Trump's January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and his misuse of government documents, including classified documents, are a conflict of interest and Garland's selection of special counsel Jack Smith to work on Biden's political cover, according to Democrats.
Former Democratic Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler praised Garland for his work as head of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Division and investigative coordinator for the International Criminal Court. After the Supreme Court overturned the 2014 corruption charges against Virginia Gov. Smith (R-Virginia), Republicans turned the tables on Democrats.
"The special counsel ensures complete independence in order to avoid conflict and resolve multiple issues," said Gansler, a partner at Cadwallader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, who is running for governor this year. "The selection of this special prosecutor increases the likelihood of an eventual indictment."
Democratic political analyst Paul Henderson said Trump would be "watching them very closely," adding that "anything short of [an indictment] would undermine the credibility of the investigation by the various agencies."
"At this point, if the Biden-Harris administration steps in to delay, block or terminate any Justice Department investigation, it would be an abuse of power, given what we already know," he said.
When she was San Francisco's district attorney, the administration's chief of staff and vice president, Kamala Harris, lawyer for Henderson, insisted that some Justice Department investigations be conducted jointly by the judiciary and urged federal, state and local officials to act without obstruction.
"In addition to appointing a special counsel, one of Attorney General Merrick Garland's most drastic measures is to share ongoing investigations with other prosecutors so they can review their authority to review criminal charges," he said. .
Smith's appointment comes as Trump's standing among Republicans has weakened as a so-called red tide in this month's midterm elections has failed to materialize and Republican presidential candidates have begun to stray from the party's old standards. Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) has indicated that Republicans in his group will not question Joe Biden, instead focusing on his son's savior.
Last week, the White House insisted it had no knowledge of the Garland decision, with press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre reiterating that "we do not politicize the justice system."
"This is what the president said on the campaign trail. It's what the president said in his first White House. And it's true," he told reporters. "We're not involved in this case. We're not involved in — let me put it more broadly — we're not involved in criminal investigations that are conducted independently by the Department of Justice.
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Garland announced she would pick a special adviser to launch Trump's campaign, saying she would "express his willingness to run with" Biden. The former President Barack Obama Supreme Court nominee insists the judiciary is "committed to independence and accountability, especially in crisis cases."
Trump called Garland's appointment as special counsel "tragic" and an "abuse of power." Meanwhile, Smith, who is registered as an independent expert, promised that "under my supervision, the pace of the investigation will not be checked or delayed."
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Tags: Justice Department , Donald Trump , Joe Biden , Merrick Garland , Jack Smith , News
Main author: Naomi Lim
Starting point: Trump is considering a special counsel and Biden has pledged to keep politics out of the Justice Department.
