President Trump is pushing back hard over a Washington Post report that federal agents are investigating possible criminal activity surrounding the aftermath of the controversial 2020 presidential election. Click here to join Todd’s private Facebook page for conservatives.
“If the report is true, it would mark a major escalation in the Justice Department’s investigation into attempts to overturn the election results. Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation,” the Washington Post reported.
The prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021; his pressure campaign on Pence to overturn the election; and what instructions Trump gave his lawyers and advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the states, the people said. Some of the questions focused directly on the extent of Trump’s involvement in the fake-elector effort led by his outside lawyers,including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, these people said.
Washington Post
However, CBS News reports there is no evidence that the former president is the target of the investigation.
There are two principal tracks of the investigation that could ultimately lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, two people familiar with the situation said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
The first centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, the type of charges already filed against individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and on two leaders of far-right groups, Stewart Rhodes and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who did not breach the Capitol but were allegedly involved in planning the day’s events.
The second involves potential fraud associated with the false-electors scheme or with pressure Trump and his allies allegedly put on the Justice Department and others to falsely claim that the election was rigged and votes were fraudulently cast.
Recent subpoenas obtained by The Post show that two Arizona state legislators were ordered to turn over communications with “any member, employee, or agent of Donald J. Trump or any organization advocating in favor of the 2020 re-election of Donald J. Trump, including ‘Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.’ ”
No former president has ever been charged with a crime in the country’s history. In cases when investigators found evidence suggesting a president engaged in criminal conduct, as with Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, investigators and successive administrations concluded it was better to grant immunity or forgo prosecution. One goal was to avoid appearing to use government power to punish political enemies and assure the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.
Washington Post
President Trump blasted the Washington Post Report in a scathing post on his TruthSocial platform.
“Just more disinformation by the Democrats, like the Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, the long running Mueller Report, which ended in No Collusion, and so much more,” Trump wrote. “Now that we have found the answers to these crooked, election changing events, why is the Justice Department not prosecuting those responsible? Plenty of time left!”
People forget, this is all about a Rigged and Stolen Election. But rather than go after the people that Rigged and Stole it, they go after the people that are seeking Honesty and Truth, and have Freedom of Speech, and many other defenses, on their side! Justice Department should look at The Crime of the Century. Evidence is massive and irrefutable!!!
President Trump
Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to rule out the possibility the former president could face charges.
“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,” Garland said during an interview with NBC News host Lester Holt.
Garland went on to say that the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot uncovered evidence the Justice Dept. was not aware of.
HOLT: Is the committee offering you anything in terms of an informal road map? Are you learning things you didn’t know?
GARLAND: 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. It is inevitable that there will be things that they find before we have found them. And there is, it’s inevitable that there will be things we find that they haven’t found. The Justice Department has from the beginning been moving urgently to learn everything we can about this period, and to bring to justice everybody who was criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, which is the fundamental element of our democracy.
HOLT: You said you’re moving quickly at this. There’s been a lot of criticism, a lot of pressure that the DOJ is kind of behind the power curve here, behind the committee, not moving quickly enough on what appears to be solid evidence in some cases.
GARLAND: As I said, we have been moving urgently since the very beginning, we have a huge number of prosecutors and agents working on these cases. It is inevitable in this kind of investigation that there’ll be speculation about what we are doing, who we are investigating, what our theories are. The reason there is this speculation and uncertainty is that it’s a fundamental tenet of what we do as prosecutors and investigators is to do it outside of the public eye. We do that for two important reasons. One is to protect the civil liberties of people and events that we’re investigating. And the second is to ensure the success and the integrity of our investigation.
HOLT: Would a criminal referral from the committee carry a lot of weight, would it be welcomed by the Department of Justice?
GARLAND: So I think that’s totally up to the committee. We will have the evidence that the committee has presented and whatever evidence it gives us, I don’t think that the nature of how they style, the manner in which information is provided, is a particular significance from any legal point of view. That’s not to downgraded or to or disparage it. It’s just that’s not what, that’s not the issue here. We have our own investigation, pursuing through the principles of prosecution.
Mediaite