FINALLY: Department of Justice sets its sights on Trump in Jan. 6 criminal investigation
The Department of Justice is moving on Trump like a bitch. The nation’s prosecutors have widened their criminal probe into the events of Jan. 6th and Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Investigators are focusing on Trump’s instructions in the plot to pressure his Vice President, Mike Pence, along with the ex-President’s involvement with the fake elector scheme, and meetings held in December 2020 and January 2021 to strategize the coup.
Most importantly, what instructions did Donald Trump give his attorneys and senior staff to make all that happen?
The House Select Committee hearings appear to have lit a fire under the Justice Department. Attorney General Merrick Garland himself admitted in a recent interview that the select committee has shed light on “the truth of what happened…and what a risk it meant for our democracy.”
In an exclusive interview, Garland told NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt:
“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. That’s what we do.”
"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," AG Garland tells @LesterHoltNBC.https://t.co/zrAFeKp6Hp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 26, 2022
Multiple witnesses have testified before a grand jury – including two top Pence aides.
During public testimony before the House Select Committee, Pence attorney Greg Jacob told of pressure from the ex-president’s legal team to get his client to violate the Electoral Count Act – most notably former Trump attorney John Eastman.
Architect of the plan to turn the heat up on Pence, Eastman sent several emails urging Jacob to get Pence on board.
Jacob, along with Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short, recently gave testimony to a Washington D.C. grand jury. While Short hasn’t appeared in the televised hearings, the Vice President’s aide did previously tell the committee that his boss resisted Trump’s pressure.
Through separate investigations, the House Select Committee and Department of Justice have similar goals – the who, what, when, why, and how of the attempted coup.
Attorney General Garland has been under increasing criticism — and pressure — from the public for what has been a perceived lack of urgency and action. But Garland pushed back, telling Holt.
“Look, the Justice Department has been doing the most wide-ranging investigation in its history. And the committee is doing an enormously wide-ranging investigation as well.”
Subpoenas have been issued, devices seized, and electronic communications turned over. Incriminating testimony has been elicited from senior White House aides and election officials in Georgia and Arizona. Though over 800 arrests have been made in connection with the Capitol insurrection, the recent actions of the DOJ — and Garland’s recent statements — are an indication that the Justice Department is taking its investigation to the top.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
