The federal prosecutors were aware that the Republicans would accuse the current Democratic administration of shielding one of their own if charges weren’t brought. For this reason, the decision could not smell like politics.
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DOJ Targets Trumpworld
It was late in Obama’s presidency, and a scandal involving possible improper targeting of conservative groups by the IRS had led to the referral of a senior IRS official to the Justice Department by House Republicans.
Lois Lerner, an IRS official, claimed the 5th Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination in order to avoid answering questions from the House, but Republicans argued that she had waived that protection and should be charged with contempt of Congress anyway because of it.
Career prosecutors had reviewed the Republicans’ criminal referral in detail before the Justice Department decided not to pursue a case in 2015. Matt Graves, a high-ranking official in the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, was one of the career prosecutors.
Graves has been the public face of the US attorney’s office for the past six years, and he once again had to deal with politically charged contempt referrals from the House.
In his first week as a US attorney in Washington, DC, Graves signed an indictment charging Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon with contempt of Congress for his refusal to testify before a congressional committee on January 6.
After recommending that the full House vote hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former top Justice Department official Jeff Clark in contempt of Congress on January 6, the pressure on recalcitrant Trump world figures have only increased in the weeks since.
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