"The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday. Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately."
Mitch McConnell
I agree. Let's hear what prompted the FBI search.
On the spectrum of responses by GOP leaders, Mitch McConnell's was at the far end, merely asking for explanation. More typical are ones expressing outrage. Most GOP leaders--Kevin McCarthy, Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis--took the point of view that the FBI search was partisan tyranny. McCarthy immediately defined the FBI search as illegitimate. He announced political revenge:
We will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney General [Merrick] Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.
Lindsay Graham called it "stunning, damning, salacious, and a piece of crap."
MAGA voices in the GOP called for abolishing the FBI. Dinesh D'Souza said it "should now be a central plank in the Republican platform in both 2022 and 2024 that we will abolish the FBI." U.S. Representative Paul Gosar tweeted that he "will support a complete dismantling and elimination of the democrat brown shirts known as the FBI.” U.S. Representative Boebert, Matt Schlapp, Candice Owens and many more had similar statements.
We have a fundamental mis-match of perceptions on what took place in the FBI search. Democrats and the broader population of the Trump-skeptical think that it is unquestioned that Trump has broken the law on record retention.
He also openly and proudly attempted to stay in office by overturning the 2020 election. It was unprecedented, but was it a out-and-out crime? Were written statutes abridged, or was it only on the edge of crime? Maybe it was just an aggressive look at legal options and loopholes. After all, he urged the January 6 crowd to "be strong," but not that they should hang the Vice President. He didn't tell Georgia's Raffensperger to cheat to find the 11,000 votes, only to find them. The lawyer John Eastman said that his premise that Pence could overthrow the election would lose 9-0 in the Supreme Court, but at least it would have its day in court. Is that a crime?
Democrats look at this and say that "no one is above the law." Investigate crimes and probable crimes. Get the evidence. If presidents can break the law then there are no checks and balances. Defend the rule of law.
Most Republicans and conservative media are saying this is just politics, and the very institutions of justice are corrupt. They make the argument made by the most radical within the BLM and Antifa groups, that the entire law enforcement system is corrupt. Defund the police; defund the FBI. A knee on the neck of George Floyd; an FBI search of Donald Trump.
Mitch McConnell is in a lonely political gray area. He condemned Trump for inciting a riot, but then voted against impeachment. He said he wants someone other than Trump to be president, but said he would support Trump if he were the nominee. McConnell doesn't criticize Trump. Trump calls him incompetent, weak, disloyal, and a RINO.
McConnell is right to demand an explanation from the Attorney General. There are Justice Department rules forbidding commenting on incomplete investigations. Garland should work around them. He needs to go to a microphone immediately--today--and tell the American people why the FBI did the search. They surely had reasons. Tell us. The premise that silence by the FBI protects the privacy of the accused is false. Everyone knows Trump's home was searched and that he is being investigated. Trump announced it. The media is covering it 24-7. This isn't about privacy. It is about the credibility of America's systems of justice. Justice Department silence fosters conspiracy theories. It gives license to talks of violence and civil disruption. People will get killed.
Explain. Explain now.
Well, maybe Gray Lady will take care of this: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854.8.0.pdf
Trump acts and speaks like a mob boss. His enablers act as soldiers under his command. Loyalty uber alles.
As I understand things, Trump is entitled to an inventory of things taken pursuant to the search warrant. Trump is free to make that inventory public. If the inventory contains documents that are incriminating, Trump may not be so eager to do so. He could, of course, release information from the inventory selectively, not revealing the most incriminating materials. What would the DoJ do in that situation?
There is, of course, a back story: the National Archives made prior, less intrusive efforts to collect materials that should have been turned over when Trump left the Presidency. They took away cartons od stuff. Presumably Trump said that was all there was. If materials remained in Trump’s possession, that provides a good explanation of why execution of the search warrant was both necessary and justified.
The bellyaching Republicans are hypocrites, pure and simple.