Why It’s So Hard For The J6 Committee To Criminally Refer Trump To the DOJ

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times caused a stir this weekend when he reported that there is general consensus among the J6 committee members that there is sufficient evidence to forward a criminal referral on Donald trump to the DOJ, a charge of tampering with official congressional functions. But there is some disagreement among them on whether a formal referral should be made or not.

Look, put your personal feelings aside about Trump and his merry band of freebooters. This is a thorny issue for the committee. I say that simply because I can see, and understand the legitimate points on both sides of the argument. Remember the old adage, If you go after the King, it had better be a kill shot. 

First, the logic in sending a criminal referral on Trump to the DOJ. The committee obviously honestly believes that it has sufficient evidence that Trump personally attempted to obstruct the official proceedings of congress. Great, there’s one count. But it can’t stop there. Because Traitor Tot couldn’t pull off a stunt like that himself, nobody could. It means that Trump was coordinating with people like Bannon, Navarro, Giuliani, and almost certainly GOP members of congress. Which means that you’re now talking about a conspiracy, which is a whole nother count. But if they have the evidence, and they believe it, why not just make the referral?

There are actually two reasons against making the criminal referral. The first is useless redundancy. After all, if the DOJ is already looking at possible criminal behavior wrapped up in the J6 rally, then a criminal referral from the J6 committee is unnecessary, the DOJ is already on it. The problem is that nobody really knows if the DOJ is engaged or not. Thanks to public reporting, we know that the DOJ is actively subpoenaing documents and testimony on the planning for the J6 rally, as well as investigating Trump’s removal of 15 boxed of documents, including some marked Top Secret, when he went to Mar-A-Lago. But nobody knows how serious they are, and Garland isn’t sharing.

The second reason is more onerous and problematic. His Lowness spent 4 years blatantly turning an independent Justice Department into a politically motivated hit squad to dish out revenge on enemies, and reward cronies. Even with two GOP members on the committee, if they vote to send a criminal referral to the DOJ on Trump, all hell is going to break loose. Trump will instantly brand it a politically motivated witch hunt. So will the GOP, and they’ll both fund raise off of it. Trump loyalists will run on it in November. And the Democrats will be left bleating that it was a bipartisan committee!

This is a real issue. When Biden nominated Garland as Attorney General, he promised a hands off approach to the DOJ, restoring it to its traditional non political independence. And he has made good on that promise. No matter how much Democratic activists, strategists, pundits, and even members of congress bitch about Garland’s apparent lack of zeal in crucifying Trump and his cabal, Biden has stayed out of it. And personally, I admire him for his honor and integrity. But it takes more than two years to successfully Clorox the Trump stench off of the hallowed walls of the DOJ. So the charge will find sympathetic ears.

The J6 committee, along with pretty much everybody else, is furious at the DOJ for their so far refusal to indict Mark Meadows on the committee’s contempt of congress charges. But let’s be fair, the job of the DOJ is to secure convictions, not just throw cases against the wall and see what sticks. If the DOJ lawyers honestly believe that a court may rule that Meadows has at least some confidential privilege as a presidential advisor, then why bring a losing case to court?

My personal opinion, and my advice to the J6 committee is simple. Fuck politics! You were formed as a bipartisan committee, so act like it. That committee is stuffed chock-a-block with fine lawyers like constitutional law professor Jamie Raskin, and plenty of former prosecutors. If your somber deliberations show that there is evidence against Trump and/or anybody else to make a case, then file the criminal referrals! Who gives a shit what the GOPtards think?

A sociopathic, narcissistic madman just tried to put an end to our 233 year experiment in self government for his own power and personal satisfaction. Nothing is more important than that. File the referral(s). If the Trump era has taught us nothing else, especially the second half of it and beyond, it has taught us that The judicial system still works. Let’s at least give it a chance, shall we?