As the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack neared, Attorney General Merrick Garland offered the public an update on the Justice Department’s investigation. He covered a fair amount of ground, though there were a couple of sentences that stood out.
“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Garland said. “We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”
The “at any level” reference, taken at face value, raised the prospect of Donald Trump possibly facing scrutiny from federal investigators.
The nation’s chief law enforcement official has used similar phrasing many times since — including during an interview this week with NBC News’ Lester Holt — leaving much of the political world to wonder about the former president and the degree to which he might face scrutiny from the Justice Department.
It was against this backdrop that The Washington Post broke new ground last night with this report, noting that the Justice Department is, in fact, investigating Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. The prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021; his pressure campaign on Pence to overturn the election; and what instructions Trump gave his lawyers and advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the states, the people said. Some of the questions focused directly on the extent of Trump’s involvement in the fake-elector effort led by his outside lawyers, including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, these people said.
I’ve seen some suggestions that the revelations are part of a leak from the Justice Department, but that’s not at all what the reporting actually says: We now know that investigators are scrutinizing the former president’s actions because other witnesses have fielded so many questions about Trump’s actions.
The New York Times published a related report soon after with a similar emphasis: “Federal prosecutors have directly asked witnesses in recent days about former President Donald J. Trump’s involvement in efforts to reverse his election loss, a person familiar with the testimony said on Tuesday.”
NBC News also published a report this morning confirming that the Justice Department is investigating Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6 riot as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Just to go ahead and state the obvious, we’ve known for a while about members of the Republican’s inner circle facing uncomfortable scrutiny. Indeed, it was just last month when federal investigators descended on Jeffrey Clark’s home. Around the same time, FBI agents executed a search warrant against Trump lawyer John Eastman and seized his phone. But it’s a qualitatively different kind of scandal now that we know the Justice Department is examining Trump’s own alleged actions. What’s more, the Post’s report added federal investigators have obtained phone records from key players, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, signaling just how “expansive” the Jan. 6 probe has become. For those keeping score, the former president was already facing investigations into his business’s alleged fraud. And his alleged mishandling of classified materials. And his alleged election interference in Georgia. And his SPAC. But all things considered, it’s the Justice Department’s criminal probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election that should worry the Republican most.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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