No free pass for Trump
Donald Trump’s early announcement of his third White House bid won’t shield the former president from the criminal investigations already confronting him as an ordinary citizen, leaving him legally and politically exposed as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination.
The Justice Department is pushing ahead with its probes. And with the midterm elections now mostly complete and the 2024 presidential campaign months away from beginning in earnest, federal prosecutors have plenty of time to continue their work even as Trump hits the campaign trail.
‘‘I don’t think the department is going to hesitate as a result of Trump nominating himself and anointing himself as the first candidate in the 2024 election,’’ said former Justice Department prosecutor Michael Weinstein.
‘‘I just think they will see that as him trying to game the system as he’s done very successfully in the courts,’’ and they’re prepared for his ‘‘blowback.’’
Trump enters the race facing federal investigations related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and into the hoarding of top-secret government documents at his Florida estate – plus a separate state probe in Georgia.
The Mar-a-lago investigation has advanced especially swiftly, with prosecutors this month giving a close Trump ally immunity to secure his testimony before a federal grand jury. Justice Department lawyers in that probe say they have amassed evidence of potential crimes involving not only obstruction but also the wilful retention of national defence information.
It remains unclear whether anyone will be charged, as does the timetable for a decision. But former officials say the best way to ensure the outcome is seen as above reproach is to conduct a by-thebook investigation showing no special favour or ill treatment because of Trump’s former high office.
‘‘The public will have the most faith in what you’re doing, and you will get the most successful results, if you treat Donald Trump like any other American,’’ said Matthew Miller, who served as Justice Department spokesman under former attorney-general Eric Holder.
The current attorney-general, Merrick Garland, has suggested as much, saying last summer in response to questions about Trump and the January 6 investigation that ‘‘no person is above the law.’’
When asked in a July television interview how a potential Trump candidacy might affect the department, Garland replied: ‘‘We will hold accountable anyone who is criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer – legitimate, lawful transfer – of power from one administration to the next.’’
Investigating any elected official, or candidate for office, almost always invites political speculation. Justice Department protocol cautions prosecutors against taking overt action in the direct run-up to an election, but that’s more a standard convention than a hardand-fast rule. And the 2024 presidential contest is two years away.
Still, it’s not easy to investigate a former president or current candidate. That’s especially true in the case of Trump, who spent his presidency assailing his own Justice Department and haranguing attorneys-general he himself had appointed.