The Department of Justice – led by Attorney General Merrick Garland – is facing renewed pressure to investigate Donald Trump for crimes related to his attempted overthrow of the 2020 presidential election.
David Carter, a U.S. District Court judge in California, wrote on Monday, “If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”
Carter, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, ruled that John Eastman, the conservative attorney who devised a dubious legal rationale for Trump’s attempted coup, must turn over relevant emails to the House committee probing the events culminating in the Capitol riot. Eastman argued, unsuccessfully, that the correspondences in question were protected by attorney-client privilege.
But attorney-client privilege doesn’t extend to fraud and Carter found that “the illegality of [Trump’s] plan was obvious.” It was “a last-ditch attempt to secure the Presidency by any means,” he wrote.
Carter also found that Trump and Eastman likely knew their scheme represented illegal behavior. They “justified the plan with allegations of election fraud— but President Trump likely knew the justification was baseless, and therefore that the entire plan was unlawful,” Carter wrote.
Commentator Charlie Sykes – a Never Trump conservative – contextualized Carter’s ruling:
What the judge did… was to nudge, prod, poke, and remind the Department of Justice that the former president of the United States “more likely than not” committed felonies in his attempt to subvert the presidential election.
Meanwhile, members of the House’s January 6th committee – which lacks the power to file criminal or civil charges – are also urging the DOJ to get involved in its investigation. On Monday, it recommended criminal contempt of Congress charges against Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, two Trump advisors who’ve refused to cooperate with the House body.
“This committee is doing its job. The Department of Justice needs to do theirs,” said committee member Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, on Monday.
Virginia Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria added, “I will echo what my colleagues have already said, but more bluntly: Attorney General Garland, do your job — so that we can do ours.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, another California Democrat, said on Monday that the DOJ’s inaction threatens the balance of power within the U.S. government.
“The Department of Justice has a duty to act on this referral and others we have sent,” he said. “Without enforcement of congressional subpoenas, there is no oversight. And without oversight, no accountability, not for the former President or any other president, past, present or future.”
Earlier this month, CNN reported that many Democrats are frustrated by Garland’s slow-moving actions on January 6th. His DOJ has not yet reacted to a Congressional recommendation to pursue contempt charges against Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. That recommendation was made in January.
CNN adds:
In a speech ahead of the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Garland broke his relative silence on the matter by seeming to suggest ongoing investigations of attack would spare no one.
“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law,” he said, temporarily placating critics on the left.
Whether Garland actually meant those words to include Trump is unclear. But so far, none of the telltale signs of an investigation, such as subpoenas or witness interviews, have spilled into public view to indicate that Trump might be a prosecution target.
