Many current and former senior officials of the Department of Justice and the FBI have begun contacting attorneys. The crime is being investigated by the Trump administrationaccording to three people with knowledge of the deliberations.
After Trump’s decisive election victory, many DOJ officials and career employees were already worried. probability of being targeted Trump loyalists, especially members of Congress. But the choice of former Rep. Matt GaetzThe far-right Trump ally, who is the subject of a recent FBI investigation, has dramatically increased excitement to lead the department, sources said.
“Everything we did was at a high level,” said the former FBI agent, who began contacting attorneys because he expected to be prosecuted. “But this is a different world.”
The official, who did not want to be named for fear of becoming a further target, does not believe efforts to prosecute him will be successful. Judges and juries have the power to dismiss the case or acquit the defendants if they find the charges unfounded.
But like many other current and former Justice Department officials, he is bracing for a potentially long and costly legal battle, as well as protracted congressional investigations, after Trump takes office in January.
Career FBI agents are particularly vulnerable, the official added. Because they earn less than what they earn in the private sector, they rely on their pension after 20 years.
“Agents have to serve 20 years,” said a former senior FBI official. “These people have no choice.”
A former senior DOJ official who served in Trump’s first term said he also saw Gaetz’s nomination as a sign of the seriousness of the president-elect’s promise to retaliate against those who investigated him.
“He needs to be able to control the department, which he can do through an AG who is loyal to him,” said a former DOJ official.
Gaetz was the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation ended without charges“He understands that he owes everything to Trump, who can also protect Gaetz with the pardon power,” the former official added. “Trump is confident that Gaetz will do everything Trump tells him.”
Trump and his supporters have consistently argued that all criminal investigations against him are politically motivated and that DOJ and FBI officials deserve to be prosecuted.
In the weeks before Election Day, Trump’s spokesman, Stephen Cheung, asked that the January 6 charges against Trump and all federal and state crimes be dismissed.
“This whole thing is bogus and partisan, an unconstitutional witch-hunt, and like all other Democrat shenanigans, it should be rejected outright.” Cheung said.
Legal experts say Trump’s goal in investigating his investigators is simple: To intimidate anyone who dares to investigate Trump’s conduct.
“Trump is aiming to neutralize the sources of power that could stand in his way,” said Stephen Gillers, an ethics professor at New York University’s School of Law. “This includes law and legal institutions. “He will not tolerate any interference when the department’s decisions benefit Trump and his friends, or when his power can be used to retaliate against his enemies.”
Shock within the DOJ
DOJ officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, were shocked by Trump’s decisive election victory. For the past four years, Garland has argued that strict adherence to post-Watergate norms requiring the DOJ to act impartially in criminal investigations would restore public confidence in the DOJ.
Instead, some career DOJ officials cried foul after the election, fearing that too many Americans continue to believe Trump’s claims that the department is a corruption cesspool.
DOJ and FBI officials say Trump’s investigations were conducted properly. DOJ prosecutors secured federal grand jury indictments against Trump for mishandling classified documents and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
They said they were confused about what criminal charges might be brought against them as a result. “There is no crime,” said the current law enforcement official. “What is a crime?”
Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer and Trump ally, argued that the special counsel Jack Smith Smith could be prosecuted for violating one of the laws he accused Trump of violating in connection with the 2020 election: conspiracy against rights.
Regulation says it’s illegal to deny anyone a federal right like voting. Smith argued that Trump’s attempt to change the outcome of the 2020 election has turned voters away in many states. the right to have their votes counted correctly.
Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, said he doesn’t see how Smith could be charged with denying Trump a federal right.
“I think it’s absurd,” he said. “I don’t see any legal charges against Smith.”
Somin warned that a prosecutor can spend a long time investigating a person and find that they violated federal laws covering minor crimes.
For example, if Trump’s attorney general appoints a special prosecutor to investigate federal criminal investigations of Trump, they could find that a DOJ or FBI official violated federal law unrelated to the Trump investigation, such as tax or drug violations. .
“If you think about it, the majority of American adults have probably violated federal laws at some point in their lives, like smoking marijuana,” Somin said.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has charged multiple Trump associates with unrelated crimes during his investigation into whether Trump campaign officials coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign. Paul Manafort, chairman of Trump’s election campaign, was sentenced only up to four years in prison after being convicted of tax and bank fraud.
John Durham, a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Bill Barr, later spent years investigating the actions of the CIA and FBI in connection with Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, only to plead guilty to a single charge of lying on a document by an FBI attorney. .
But many of those investigated by Durham ended up spending thousands of dollars in legal fees. Now a new team of DOJ and FBI officials is facing off perspective but also high legal fees.
Gillers, the NYU professor, said he believes Trump’s nomination of Gaetz is the beginning, not the end, of his efforts to exact revenge on the department.
“Getz’s promotion is, in part, compensation for the two indictments of Jack Smith,” Gillers said. “The Justice Department is Trump’s white whale, and like Captain Ahab, Trump is determined to achieve equality.”