House Republicans are planning a vote to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress, although with a margin of error of two votes, the vote is on shaky ground.
The contempt ruling relates to the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over audio of President Biden’s special counsel interview and the interview with Biden’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
The Justice Department offered transcripts of the interview, but said also releasing the audio could make it difficult for prosecutors to obtain recorded interviews in the future, since witnesses know they could be released to the public.
Republicans have suggested that the transcript of the interview could be inaccurate.
Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio.
Garland lashed out at the contempt measure, saying Thursday that the Justice Department has gone to “extraordinary steps” to provide information to the committee.
The Justice Department lashed out at Republican-led ‘conspiracy speculation’ about coordination between the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in prosecuting Trump.
“We have done everything we can to ensure that committees get answers to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,” Garland told reporters before a hearing to present his contempt charge.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., responded: ‘The White House is claiming privilege over the recordings, but has already waived the privilege by releasing the transcript of the interview.
The Justice Department lashed out at Republican-led “conspiracy speculation” about coordination between the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in prosecuting Trump.
Deputy Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan informing him that the Justice Department had conducted a search of emails between leadership there and Bragg’s office regarding an investigation or prosecution of former President Donald Trump. and found none.
“The self-justifying ‘perception’ asserted by the Committee is completely unfounded, yet the Committee continues to disseminate it widely,” Uriarte wrote.
“As the Attorney General stated at his hearing, the conspiracy theory that the recent jury verdict in New York state court was in any way controlled by the Department is not only false, it is irresponsible.”
Uriarte warned that the Republicans’ claims could put Justice Department officials at risk.
‘Indeed, accusations of wrongdoing made without (and indeed contrary to) evidence undermine confidence in the justice system and have contributed to increased threats of violence and attacks against career law enforcement officials and prosecutors. . Our extraordinary efforts to respond to your speculation should put an end to this speculation.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo agreed to testify before House Republicans on July 12.
Republicans have pointed to Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he left the Justice Department in December 2022 and later joined Bragg’s team.
Republicans have pointed to former Justice Department official Matthew Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he left the Justice Department in December 2022 and later joined Bragg’s team.
Republicans are planning a vote to hold Merrick Garland in contempt on Wednesday.
The Justice Department said its search “did not identify any instances in which Mr. Colangelo had email communications with the District Attorney’s office during his time at the Department.”
Bragg’s case against Trump led to a conviction last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
House Republicans are planning a vote to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress, although with a margin of error of two votes, the vote is on shaky ground. The contempt ruling relates to the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over audio of President Biden’s special counsel interview and the interview with Biden’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
The Justice Department offered transcripts of the interview, but said that releasing the audio would be detrimental to its ability to get subjects to agree to recorded interviews.
Judiciary and Armament Chairman Jim JOrdan said Colangelo has an “obsession” with investigating Trump “rather than prosecuting a crime.”
“Given the perception that the Department of Justice is assisting in the politicized prosecution of District Attorney Bragg, we write to request information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo’s employment with the New York Attorney General’s Office.”
In December 2022, Colangelo, President Joe Biden’s third highest-ranking Justice Department official, surprised his colleagues by packing his bags and leaving for the Big Apple to take a minor position working for the district attorney of Manhattan, Alvin Bragg.
Colangelo’s “unusual” move was technically a demotion, former US Deputy Attorney General John Yoo told DailyMail.com.
“Going from (the Justice Department) to the Manhattan district attorney’s office must mean someone is a true believer,” said Yoo, who served in the George W. Bush administration and now teaches law at the University of California. in Berkeley.
“This suggests that the prosecutor here is after the man, Trump, and not the crime,” Yoo said. He also helped lead an investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
That investigation resulted in a 2018 settlement in which Trump denied wrongdoing but agreed to dissolve the foundation.
From there, Colangelo dove straight into Trump’s business empire looking for any accounting irregularities.
During that investigation, Colangelo personally questioned the former president’s son, Eric Trump, in a deposition.
When the younger Trump complained that prosecutors were targeting his father in an act of political sabotage, Colangelo snapped.
“I can’t spend all day with this kind of outrageous response,” he said.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to bring charges against Trump over Stormy Daniels’ payment.
The feds had reportedly concluded that they probably couldn’t prove that Trump intended to violate the law, and they closed the matter in the summer of 2019.