WASHINGTON — In approving the unprecedentedsearchof former President Donald Trump's Mar Arago resort, Justice Department leaders staked on the handling of the investigation. I was. It will have a profound impact on the future of both federal law enforcement and American democracy.
A -hour search of Trump's Florida resort on Monday, in connection with an investigation into classified documents allegedly in Mr. Trump's possession, was foreseeable.
In addition to threats from Trump supporters calling for a "civil war,"the Justice Department and FBI We are facing an avalanche of calls, even from the media, to violate long-standing policies. This could be an insult to Trump, a presumed 2024 presidential candidate who has not been charged with a crime.
Justice Department leaders handled searches by the book with the kind of caution that might help in such an extraordinary case. It gave far more leeway than any of the subjects in the search warrant. He was not wearing the standard identification used in a routine search.
Given the gravity of the case, the Justice Department and FBI have been even more silent than usual, refusing to even confirm law enforcement activity in Mar-a-Lago. That means most of the information about the search came from Trump's team and even directly from Trump. Mr. Trump is a notoriously unreliable narrator who has the incentive to portray himself as an innocent victim of the "deep state" going too far in order to oust him.
A former federal prosecutor appointed by Trump told NBC News he was "worried" about whether the Justice Department should break the protocol in this "historic and breathtaking situation." Told. However, the person said there was no legal or congressional obligation for the ministry to stick to the protocol. "But what I mean is, when you're dealing with a former president of the United States and a search warrant is being executed in his home, it's definitely a situation where policy isn't applicable."
“If the DOJ is unwilling to release further information about the speculation behind the search warrant, both the FBI Director and the U.S. Attorney General have approved the action. Execution of search warrants.”
But Joyce White Vance, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst for NBC News, said the Department of Justice has not formally indicted. Breaking standard practice in this case would backfire, he said, because derogatory information about individuals should not be published.
"Come on, what do these guys want?" said Vance, who was nominated by President Obama. “Do they want Merrick Garland to come out and say that this is all our evidence against Donald Trump? Do they really think the DOJ should look into the case in the press?
Vance said the Justice Department's handling of the matter shows Garland's focus on doing things by the rules.
"Merrick Garland's goal is to revive the division in the place where normal business takes place, the courtroom, and upholding the rules," Vance said.
"I think Merrick Garland understands that the DOJ stakes its future on every case. His role was to restore the integrity of the DOJ. Without it, the public knows that DOJ leadership will follow the rules and have confidence that they are doing things the right way," said Vance.
Former Judge Garland has reiterated the importance of following the Department of Justice protocol, according to a 2017 letter written by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. And the reason Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey was Comey's decision to hold a press conference during the 2016 campaign for the former Secretary of State. Dealing with Hillary Clinton's classified emails.
"Defamatory information may be disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never unduly disclose it," Rosenstein wrote, noting that Comey's actions He described it as a "textbook example" of what federal prosecutors and special agents are warned against.
"When federal agents and prosecutors start covert criminal investigations, we're not hiding anything. We're just following a long-standing policy of not releasing non-public information." ’” wrote Rosenstein. "In that context, silence is not a cover-up."
Garland is a longtime follower of the Justice Department's policy.
"DoJ policy makes clear that derogatory comments about subjects, targets, or even those accused are not appropriate, except as set forth in the indictment." Garland said at his confirmation hearing. but he said he's digging into the agency's leadership about the need to make sure they don't give anything away. Ammo for critics who want to paint their motives as political. Inside the FBI, officials are seeing the personal comments of former agency officials come under intense scrutiny, even internally.
I feel, and have consistently communicated since I became a director, that our employees are not only doing the right thing, they need to make sure they are doing the right thing. "The way and what they avoid, even the emergence of prejudice and lack of objectivity," Wray said in recent congressional testimony. "It's full of tail-wagging patriots with tremendous honesty and objectivity."
The Justice Department and his FBI are already quite busy investigating the Capitol attack. Both the Department of Justice and the Bureau are still emerging from years of attacks on the FBI from Republicans who have historically aligned with law enforcement.
for the FBI And those who have worked with the FBI are still attuned to the idea that millions of Trump supporters believe the FBI, a generally conservative law enforcement agency, to be some sort of left-wing bastion. One right-leaning ex-FBI official described the FBI as "a fairly conservative, right-leaning organization that tries to separate itself from politics."
A Trump-appointed former federal prosecutor has said he has "implicit" trust in the FBI, and calls for the FBI's "defense" by some far-right congressmen have been criticized by Republicans. It was exactly what you should avoid if you wanted to, he said. Run the "Law and Order" campaign against the Democrats.
Vance said the portrayal of the FBI by Republican and conservative media is far from reality.
"I'm pretty sure it's the leaders of the FBI today who are most horrified to learn that they are radical liberals," Bunce said. "The idea that the FBI is not inherently a conservative-leaning organization is truly absurd and shows how far the Trump people go to justify the unjustifiable."