Prosecutors are scrutinizing Mr. Trump’s allies’ plans to create an alternative slate for Trump supporters to overturn Joseph R. Byden Jr.’s victory in a major swing state, involving a federal grand jury. A summons letter is issued to the person. The investigation brings the prosecutor closer to Mr. Trump’s inner circle than any other investigation.
The incumbent or former president has never been tried. Aaron Burr was acquitted after a sensational trial, charged with treason after President Thomas Jefferson resigned as Vice President in a highly political case directed by the White House. Ulysses Grant was arrested for speeding on horses and buggies during his presidency. Spiro T. Agnew resigned as Vice President as part of a judicial transaction in a corruption case.
The closest time the former president was charged was after Richard M. Nixon resigned in Watergate in 1974, but his successor, Gerald R. Ford, has to move the country forward. For that reason, he omitted the investigation by preemptively pardoning him. Clinton agreed to deal with Ray on the last full day at the White House to avoid perjury after his resignation, and false testimony under an oath about his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky. He admitted that he had done so, obtained a legal license to temporarily surrender him, and paid a fine of $ 25,000.
If the Justice Department indicts Mr. Trump, the trial is very different from house hearing in a way that affects the scope and pace of the investigation. Investigators need to scrutinize thousands of hours of video footage and the entire content of the devices and online accounts they access, scrutinizing the evidence supporting the proceedings and everything the defendant lawyer can use to withdraw it. I have. Federal prosecutors will probably need to convince the majority of judges in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court that their proceedings are valid.
The House Committee is resisting sharing information, even though it is putting pressure on the Justice Department to take action. In April, the agency asked the Commission to record a witness interview, but the Commission did not agree to submit the document as the work continued.
Critics have accused Garland, but the Attorney General generally does not facilitate routine investigative work. Garland is briefed almost daily on the progress of the investigation, led by Matthew M. Graves, a U.S. lawyer in Washington who works with national security and criminal officials. .. Deputy Justice Secretary Lisa O. Monaco oversees the investigation extensively.