DoJ To Appoint Special Counsel To Investigate Trump Documents Case

[Webster]

(CNN) Attorney General Garland to announce special counsel in Mar-a-Lago, parts of Jan. 6 investigations
US Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to announce Friday that he has appointed a special counsel to oversee investigations into the retention of national defense information at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and key aspects of the criminal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, according to a senior Justice Department official.

Both investigations implicate the conduct of Trump, who on Tuesday declared his candidacy in the 2024 presidential race, making him a potential rival of President Biden.

Justice Department officials have been debating for weeks whether to appoint a special counsel, CNN previously reported. Trump has sought to paint the investigations as politically motivated, including at his Tuesday presidential announcement, where he said he was the victim of a “weaponization” of the justice system.

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The Justice Department investigation continues into whether documents from the White House were illegally mishandled when they were brought to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after he left office. A federal grand jury in Washington has been empaneled and has interviewed potential witnesses to how Trump handled the documents.

In August, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents, that may have been brought there.

The National Archives, charged with collecting and sorting presidential material, had previously said that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from Mar-a-Lago, including some classified records.

Any unauthorized retention or destruction of White House documents could violate a criminal law that prohibits the removal or destruction of official government records, legal experts told CNN.

Among the items seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago were clemency requests, health care documents, IRS forms and paperwork that appears to be related to the 2020 election, according to a Justice Department list that was made public.

The collection also included apparent communications about Trump’s business connections, including what’s described as a confidential settlement agreement between PGA and Trump Golf, as well as an email accepting Trump’s resignation from SAG, or the Screen Actors Guild.

Full details of the documents aren’t available but taken together, the list offers a glimpse into a handful of the thousands of documents Trump was keeping at his Florida residence and resort after his presidency, and which the FBI removed from the beach club.

 

[Webster]

(CNN) What is a special counsel?
Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to announce that he has appointed a special counsel to oversee investigations into former President Donald Trump.

You likely remember hearing this term during the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Here's a refresher on what it means: A special counsel is a lawyer appointed to lead an independent investigation and, if necessary, to prosecute anyone suspected of crimes.

A special counsel is typically appointed when the usual investigative bodies under the Justice Department, such as the FBI, have a conflict of interest in carrying out a probe. The law states more broadly that the attorney general can appoint a special counsel under "extraordinary circumstances," or when in it is in the public interest to do so.

The special counsel must come from outside the government, the idea being that he or she should have the greatest possible level of impartiality and be removed from the usual chain of command. The law says that the counsel should be a lawyer with a reputation for integrity and impartial decision-making.

 

[Webster]

(CNN) Garland said Trump’s candidacy and Biden’s potential run prompted him to appoint special counsel
Attorney General Merrick Garland said his decision to appoint a special counsel was driven in part by former President Donald Trump's announcement that he intends to run for president in 2024, as well as current President Joe Biden saying he also intends to run.

"The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution," Garland said before announcing the appointment of Justice Department prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel. -- "Based on recent developments, including the former president's announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president's stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel. Such an appointment underscores the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters," he said.

Garland added: "It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously and to make decisions undisputedly guided only by the facts and the law."