Trump can say he declassified those materials while he was still president. There’s not enough of a formal system to prove he didn’t. In addition, these crimes may require proven harmful intent for conviction, it’s the kind of protection the politicians put in for themselves, and they won’t be able to prove that in Trump’s case as long as his toadies support his lies. They’ll even go to prison for a while if they have to, confident the fat bastard will get re-elected and pardon them.
If Garland doesn’t get solid result from this then he’s committed a huge blunder just to make it look like he’s doing something. Why didn’t he have an explanation ready for the public when he authorized this search?
There’s no point to this kind of speculation. Everything will come out eventually. Hopefully Garland has a magnificent case that ends with Trump in prison. But there’s no way to know right now, and this speculation is worth no more than any other random internet speculation.
The speculation is definitely worthless all around. The point of taking these positions is to try to gain an understanding of these events based on the information we have. I don’t really understand the great confidence in Garland though. I assume he’s doing his best here, but I don’t know that his best is good enough. The AG is a political position, it’s not an ivory tower, an AG has to be able to justify his actions to the public and he’s failing at that so far. Perhaps he has the ability to otherwise lead that office in an optimal manner, but why should we make the assumption he is. This is not some kind of Trump/Biden contest, anyone posting in this thread with pro-Trump view will be easily identifiable. This is an argument over the apparent job that Garland has been doing as AG. I would be overjoyed to be proven wrong, but the consequences are dire if Garland fails us.
This is my take. I want to understand the process and procedures. I have concerns, and posters like @Aspenglow are very helpful addressing them. Definitive statements like “he won’t be going after anyone” are not helpful to me, but I can accept that some people need to vent their frustrations.
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part
– Tom Petty
There’s no reason to make any such assumptions at this time. We just don’t know. It’s all a wild guess. We’ll be able to say something more definitive over the next several months.
I think a big part of the way people view this is that, despite some earlier casual wording, this wasn’t just one dude’s decision. It took many minds many hours to come up with this and allow it to come to fruition, and in a process with so many hurdles, with so much presumption in favor of the citizen, whoever they may be, I think people are reasonably assuming that this unprecedented action would not have happened at all if its backing were not significant.
He may need to justify himself to history, but he certainly doesn’t need to justify himself to “the public” partway through an investigation of this magnitude. He is keeping his mouth shut, literally and figuratively, and that is entirely proper. I refer you to my earlier post:
It’s just that we’re not used to seeing an Attorney General conducting business like an adult professional instead of a loose-lipped publicity hound. Look, listen, and learn.
The profession of journalism has changed a lot over the years; there’s more free-lancing than salaried positions, sadly.
So maybe that person was being paid by the character…
Going by DOJ policy norms: no, nothing is owed.
It might be prudent to say something, though. “Norms” don’t seem to be the protective shield they once were. And the right is fully engaged in making stuff up about the DOJ action. Maintaining a dignified silence might not be DOJ’s wisest course.
I’m not saying “spill all you know, DOJ.” But at the very least, countering the blatant and irresponsible right-wing lies with a fact or two might not be the worst choice.
I disagree. IMO, responding to “blatant and irresponsible right-wing lies” is absolutely the worst choice he could make right now. Merely responding to them gives them legitimacy. Let the talking-head pundits explain why you don’t discuss an on-going investigation if you want, but any response right now to their blathering just gives them more to blather about. We’re talking about people who see nothing wrong about the death of George Floyd, remember. There is absolutely no response Garland could make that would satisfy them.
In a week or two, perhaps even less, there will be new developments in some of the other cases against Trump that Garland is not associated with. This will absorb their outrage. Give it time.
The Attorney General knows what the left wing moon bats fail the realize: that the President is covered under the policy of qualified immunity, so this is all a waste of time.
Look, no one not involved with the investigation knows what the crimes actually are. It should be obvious to a child that they wouldn’t have gone forward if qualified immunity would get him off. This is just fucking stupid and I am sorry that I even engaged.