WASHINGTON, Broadcasting news corporation :The Justice Department is unlikely to bring charges against former President Donald Trump until after the November midterm elections — if prosecutors believe the 45th president broke any laws by storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a new report. The possibility that the Justice Department would take the unprecedented step of charging a former president who is favored to be the 2024 Republican nominee has prompted heightened scrutiny of the FBI’s Aug. 8 raid on Trump’s Florida home and its aftermath, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. Department policy traditionally bars revealing investigative steps or filing charges for the purpose of affecting any election or assisting a candidate within 60 days of polling day — a period that begins Sept. 10 this year. But that policy has sometimes been ignored. In October 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey announced the reopening of an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s personal email server less than two weeks before Election Day. And while Trump isn’t on the ballot in the midterms, he has endorsed a number of candidates who are and remains the face of the Republican Party. Trump has already claimed that the FBI raid was a political ploy to harm him and Republicans. “This assault was done for political purposes just prior to the Midterm Elections (and 2024, of course!). It is a disgrace to our now Third World Nation!,” the former president said earlier this week on Truth Social. Another wild card is the possibility that Trump could formally announce his 2024 candidacy at any time. According to Bloomberg, the progress of the Justice Department’s investigation into the classified documents is unclear, so prosecutors may not need to make a decision on charging Trump before Nov. 8. But the DOJ is not precluded from obtaining indictments and keeping them under seal.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has vowed to keep the department independent and its investigations free of political interference. “Simply put, partisan politics must play no role in the decisions of federal investigators or prosecutors regarding any investigations or criminal charges,” Garland said in a memo about the 2022 midterms. The Justice Department is currently involved in a standoff with Trump’s legal team over the former president’s desire to have a special master named to review the documents seized by the FBI to ensure they do not include materials protected by attorney-client privilege. The two sides are facing off in a hearing Thursday in federal court for the Southern District of Florida. NEWS COLLECTED FROM NEW YORK POST.
Comment Here