An attorney who served as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment and trial of President Donald Trump in 2020 says he’s convinced that the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland will indeed indict failed, one-term former President Donald Trump for the role he played in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and attempt to overturn the results of the last presidential election.
Norm Eisen appeared on Michael Cohen’s “Mea Culpa” podcast, and discussed the upcoming public hearings of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack, noting that the panel is clearly ready to lay out what they’ve found as a result of their investigation.
With the indictment of former Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro having taken place late last week, Eisen told Cohen:
“I do think that Merrick Garland is going to — well there’s already signs that they’re working their way up the ladder.”
What good did it do to indict Navarro for contempt of Congress, Cohen asked Eisen, adding:
“What more do you need? I don’t think the DOJ is any better now than under Trump.”
But Eisen wasn’t buying into Cohen’s cynicism, making a bold prediction about what he sees happening:
“Garland is a man of integrity. I believe that the career prosecutors are investigating these cases are going to take a hard look because the evidence substantiates the existence of federal crimes against Trump or those around him. And if it does, they’re going to make a recommendation. He’s not going to play politics.”
Garland is indeed a man of integrity, and that’s why he’s exactly the sort of attorney general this country needed after the stench left behind at the DOJ by Jeff Sessions and William Barr, both of whom were little more than lapdogs for Trump.
The Jan. 6 committee’s first public hearing — which will be held this Thursday and televised on every network in prime time — should tell us exactly what to expect from Garland and the DOJ, and based on early reporting, the opening night will feature videotaped testimony from Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, both of who could sink the twice-impeached ex-president, according to the Washington Post:
The committee also has video recordings of interviews with Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, that some inside the process believe will make for gripping television. Although the committee has not made a final decision, people familiar with the investigation believe the panel will screen footage of testimony from Ivanka Trump and Kushner — including Trump’s account of her father’s actions in the West Wing on Jan. 6.
A source close to the committee told The Post:
“Everybody will pay attention when Jared and Ivanka talk on video.”
Everybody will include the DOJ and the attorney general.
