# Why did the Justice Department fail to protect us from Trump?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-justice-department-fail-to-protect-us-from-trump/1008944>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [October 18, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-justice-department-fail-to-protect-us-from-trump/1008944 "2024-10-18T11:07:05Z")\
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**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-justice-department-fail-to-protect-us-from-trump/1008944/1 "2024-10-18T11:07:05Z")

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Trump’s interference with certifying the 2020 election posed a grave threat to US stability. And his retention of classified documents seriously jeopardized US security.

The Justice Department has had about three-and-a-half years in which to investigate and prosecute these two cases.

Yet Trump remains free. Free to run for office again. Free to dismantle the rule of law if he wins another term. Even free to credibly threaten Justice Department officials with political persecution.

Sure, if Trump loses, the cases might still be successfully prosecuted. But…

The Justice Department had a responsibility to act in a timely manner to stop this threat from resurfacing.

Yet here we are.

Why did the Justice Department fail?

Granted, there were serious setbacks in the form of

- the July 1 Supreme Court decision giving unprecedented immunity to the president
- delays and machinations in the classified-documents case by (Trump appointee) Judge Cannon

But beyond that…

- Did the Justice Department do everything it could do and simply get outmaneuvered?
- Did it take too long in investigating and filing charges?
- Do we have any evidence that the Justice Department was less than completely committed to this prosecution? If so, is it due to Attorney General Garland’s own personal approach, or perhaps to attitudes within the Department as a whole?
- Was there a different approach that would have succeeded?

I know we have a couple of other threads dealing with these cases, but mine is a more specific question.

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