In a little more than two months, Donald Trump will lose his customary presidential immunity from federal criminal charges.
At the same time, Joe Biden will pick up plenty of payback power. But will he use it?
Biden has said that “prosecuting a former president would be a ‘very unusual thing and probably not very good for democracy,’” reports Bloomberg News.
But Biden also said last August that it will be up to his Justice Department to decide whether to go after Trump — and he won’t interfere.
Some Democrats will push hard to see Trump scrutinized for any actions that might yield criminal convictions — including a possible revival of Robert Mueller’s probe of allegations that Trump conspired with Russia for covert support in the 2016 election.
There will be calls to investigate and prosecute Trump for possible crimes involving obstruction of justice, violating the emolument clause of the Constitution, tax fraud and other infractions, including various questionable real estate deals.
Trump’s tax filings, in particular, “are brimming with shady dealings,” The Guardian reported on Election Day.
“In addition to not paying federal income tax in 10 of the 15 years preceding his election – and paying a mere $750 a year in 2016 and 2017 – Trump received a nearly $73 million refund from the IRS in 2010 after claiming more than a billion dollars in earlier losses,” the Guardian said.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, which investigated Trump, told Bloomberg he thinks some of the president’s actions warrant further scrutiny.
“No one wants to give the perception of being vindictive,” Quigley said. “But, you know, I think there’s genuine concern with ongoing criminal activities. So, at the very least those should be looked at.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has suggested forming an independent commission within the Biden Justice Department to investigate the Trump administration and pursue criminal charges if appropriate.
On the other side, Republican lawmakers, conservative media figures and many of the voters who supported the president would see a prosecution of Trump as a political attack, just as they viewed the Mueller probe and Trump’s impeachment by the House.
And it’s certain that — assuming the GOP retains its Senate majority, as now seems likely — any Biden nominee for attorney general will face merciless questioning about a possible Trump prosecution.
But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) a House Judiciary Committee member and a constitutional law professor, told Bloomberg the Justice Department “should do its job without prejudice or favor.”
Any involvement by the Biden White House, he said, would be a “banana republic formulation and a sad hallmark of the Trump era that we should leave behind.”
