OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion
The investigation into the events at the Capitol on Jan 6 is a hot topic, as those who want to neutralize former President Donald Trump are hoping to blame him for any and all they can.
It has come to light that the DOJ and the House investigating committee have not been working together.
In fact, it seems they are at odds. In May The Hill reported that the DOJ had asked the House committee to share its materials, sending a letter noting that some of the work, “may contain information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting.”
The committee replied it won’t directly turn over what it’s got, suggesting it would only provide a more narrow level of assistance, reported The Hill.
Jeff Robbings, an attorney now in private practice who has served as both a federal prosecutor and a Senate investigative counsel, told The Hill that while both branches are seeking accountability over events surrounding Jan 6, each entity has different goals in mind.
“I can say broadly that the traditional tension between congressional investigative committees and the DOJ about witnesses is that they have different interests, Robbins stated to The Hill.
“The DOJ wants to be in a position to prosecute people or potentially prosecute people and the congressional committees want to be able to stage hearings that lay our for the American people what happened in a way that is designed to grab and keep the attention of the media and the American people.”
“So there is some- let’s call it jealousy and competing interests between the two branches,” Robbins continued.
The hearings into the events will begin next Thursday.
Former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner is not a fan of the former president.
He has labeled Trump a “bully” and said that he is the “ultimate target” in the investigations.
On Friday, Sirius XM radio host Dean Obeidallah interviewed Kirschner on his show about the investigation.
Obeidallah is a former lawyer turned political comedian and writer.
Kirschner gave his opinion on recent developments.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH:
What do you make of this? The more the reporting, again, it was source reporting, but we’re getting leaks out. So there is a grand jury. There’s no doubt there’s a grand jury. There’s 100% sure there’s a grand jury now and it’s investigating the alternate fraudulent electors, which is all to help Donald Trump. And according to New York Times reporting that they’re requesting information about Trump’s lawyers, Giuliani, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and others. Is this again part of the same thing with Navarro? And again, do you believe that Donald Trump is one of the targets of this?
GLENN KIRSCHNER:
Yeah. So clearly I think Donald Trump is the ultimate target. And it seems to me that there are a couple of things going on. It seems to me that what DOJ is now doing is working its way up the criminal food chain. They continue to go after, prosecute and convict Donald Trump’s foot soldiers of the insurrection that he told to go attack the Capitol and stop the steal. And they obeyed those commands from their commander in chief. The timing of it, I think, is really interesting and maybe even a little telling, Dean. Because all of a sudden, DOJ does a couple of things. One, they request all transcripts from the J. Six Committee, more than a thousand transcripts. And the next thing you know, what happens? Subpoenas start to fly that make it clear they are now working their way up the criminal ladder to high government officials, to lawyers, to Trump family members who have testified before the J. Six Committee. And why is it that we now have the kind of flurry of activity that you and I have been looking for for the past year and a half? Well, could it be because the Department of Justice has gotten wind of precisely what the American people are going to see beginning on June 9 regarding the crimes of Donald Trump and his coconspirators. And people are going to be screaming bloody murder. Why haven’t they been indicted? And that, it feels to me like all of a sudden DOJ is in full sprint, anticipating what we are all about to see.
During the interview, Kirschner also brought up a specific instance when sides were asking Trump to make certain calls and that if he were prosecuting Trump he would call Trump’s daughter as a witness.
He said, ” There is no daddy-daughter privelege” and said he thought Trump would claim Ivanka was “just the coffee girl.”
Kirschner failed to go into the actual reason why Trump would not make the calls or cite reasons, just that Ivanka was one of the aides present that day, and that he would use the fact that she is Trumps daughter if he were the prosecutor.
Source: The Republic Brief