House GOP brushes off DOJ probe of Trump by Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell - 07/29/22 5:25 AM ET
House Republicans are casting aside the possibility that the Department of Justice could indict former President Trump for his conduct on Jan. 6, painting the DOJ as a political body.
“There’s nothing here to charge them with and they know it,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said when asked if he was concerned about Trump being criminally charged.
“The one thing we know about the DOJ is how political they’ve become, and they got to stop being political,” McCarthy said.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) echoed McCarthy’s dismissal of the agency investigating the former commander in chief.
“We’ve seen a politicized DOJ and Biden administration. Take the Colbert-sent reporters, with the U.S. attorney and DOJ did not want to prosecute them,” said Stefanik, referencing the U.S. attorney’s office declining to prosecute employees of the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” who were arrested in the Capitol complex for unlawful entry.
The Washington Post first reported on Tuesday that the DOJ’s criminal investigation has recently taken a targeted interest in Trump’s actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that prosecutors have asked witnesses about conversations with Trump, his lawyers and others in his orbit who were proponents of the fake elector schemes.
Lawyers working on the investigation have reportedly secured phone records from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and questioned two of ex-Vice President Mike Pence’s former top aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob. Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who delivered explosive testimony before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, is also said to be cooperating with the DOJ’s probe.
Public attention on the possibility of a Trump indictment has increased in light of the House Jan. 6 select committee holding a series of public hearings, culminating in a presentation placing blame on Trump for spreading false election fraud claims, encouraging protesters to show up on Jan. 6 and not acting quickly to dissuade rioters and break up the mob at the Capitol.
GOP leadership boycotted the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vetoed two of McCarthy’s picks for the panel, and it has subpoenaed five House Republicans including McCarthy. That tension with the committee appears to have made Republicans more skeptical about any DOJ probes on the same topic.
“I’ve made plenty of statements regarding the Jan. 6 so-called committee. I think this is a political operation, and this is just the next step in the political operation,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who was also issued a committee subpoena, said about the Department of Justice reportedly investigating Trump.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3578728-house-gop-brushes-off-doj-probe-of-trump/
