Yesterday, Biden administration Attorney General and head of the US Department of Justice, Merrick Garland, finally said what we have all been desperate to hear — the Justice Department will not be shying away from any evidence in the case regarding the violent January 6th Capitol attack, even if it implicates ex-President Donald Trump or people within his inner circle.
“We are not avoiding cases that are political or cases that are controversial or sensitive,” Garland stated when speaking to NPR on the subject. “What we are avoiding is making decisions on a political basis, on a partisan basis.”
Since Biden took office and Garland was appointed to his top position within the DOJ, the Attorney General has been criticized for seemingly dragging his feet when it comes to holding President Biden’s predecessor accountable for his crimes. Garland’s admission yesterday, coupled with the January 6th House Select Committee’s recent revelation that they believe Donald Trump committed felony crimes in his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has ignited a wave of calls from legal experts outside of the Justice Department, urging the DOJ to speed up the process of officially charging the corrupt ex-president, as the evidence is against Trump seems to be clear as day.
The Guardian’s Peter Stone is now reporting on a bombshell March 2nd court filing from the January 6th House panel that made a seriously strong case for implicating the one-term, twice-impeached former president in a “criminal conspiracy.” This recent, massive development has led numerous experts in the legal field to all but demand that charges be officially filed against the ex-president, and even a “strike force” or special counsel be convened to head the investigation.
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“The likelihood of a criminal investigation and charges against Donald Trump are rising due to allegations by a House panel of a ‘criminal conspiracy’ involving his aggressive drive to overturn the 2020 election results,” Stone penned in his report for the Guardian, before going on to add, “Former federal prosecutors say evidence is mounting of criminal conduct by Trump that may yield charges against the ex-president for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress on 6 January or defrauding the US government, stemming from his weeks-long drive with top allies to thwart Biden’s election by pushing false claims of fraud.”
The former acting chief of the DOJ’s fraud section, Paul Pelletier, spoke with the publication and said he has personally seen more than enough evidence to warrant criminal charges against Donald Trump.
“The compelling evidence of criminal activity by Trump revealed by the committee in its recent 61-page court filing should spur DoJ to act expeditiously,” Pelletier explained. “Given the gravity of the revelations, the department should consider a strike force or even a special counsel to coalesce sufficient resources to focus on these criminal attacks that strike at the heart of our democracy.”
“There is no time to waste now that the House committee has provided the clearest view yet into how Trump and his campaign apparently schemed to upend our democracy,” the former Justice Department official added.
Former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut also weighed in and stated that he has personally seen evidence that indicates that the Justice Department is beginning to close in on not only the former president but Trump’s inner circle of confidants and accomplices, as well.
“The justice department and the House select committee investigating the Capitol siege have turned up the heat on Trump’s inner circle that could ensnare Trump himself,” Aftergut stated. “The committee’s sworn, evidence-based allegation that former president Trump conspired to overturn the election sends an unmistakable message. The train heading toward a criminal referral to the DoJ is leaving the station.”
Stone goes on to write, “Other former prosecutors say the House panel’s 2 March evidence that Trump broke laws in a criminal conspiracy, coupled with the justice department investigations that are moving forward, could fuel criminal charges against Trump and his top allies.” He goes on to quote veteran prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig, stating, “The seditious conspiracy charges and the newly announced investigation of fake electors indicate that the government is increasingly investigating more serious and significant charges above and beyond the violent events of the day.”
“These developments, along with the ongoing investigation of Trump confidants like Rudy Giuliani, suggest that more charges are likely,” Stone explains in his piece. “I assume that as part of the ongoing investigation into January 6, the department already has a dedicated task force looking into potential criminal charges against Trump and his top loyalists. If they do not, they should.”
Frankly, it’s far past time that Donald Trump is held accountable for the things he’s done and his reign of terror on this nation is brought to a close before he manages to destroy us from within the White House once again.
You can read Stone’s full report with the Guardian here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
