WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the independence of the Justice Department following reports that the Attorney General’s Office notified former President Donald Trump that he is the subject of a criminal investigation for keeping classified documents.
“I have never, not once, suggested to the Department of Justice what it should or should not do about filing or not filing a charge. I am sincere,” Biden said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, at the White House, when asked about the Trump investigation.
The president did not comment further on the information that appeared this Thursday in local media, indicating that the Department of Justice had notified Trump’s lawyers that he is the target of a federal criminal investigation into the classified documents that were found by the FBI. last August at his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Trump’s legal team met Monday with Justice Department officials, including special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the former president’s handling of those classified documents.
The regulations of that Department establish that prosecutors can inform individuals that they are being investigated by a grand jury before an indictment is filed.
These types of notices are sent to allow individuals to testify before the grand jury before an indictment is entered.
He is the first former president to face criminal charges in US history.
On Wednesday, Smith presented evidence before a Miami grand jury and heard testimony from Taylor Budowich, a former Trump aide.
The CBS television network, citing three sources familiar with this situation, pointed out that this may be an indication that if charges are filed against Trump, some could be filed in Florida for jurisdictional reasons.
In parallel, several witnesses, such as Mar-a-Lago employees, former assistants and Trump lawyers, have appeared before a Washington DC grand jury in the context of the investigations into the classified documents.
Smith was appointed in November to take this case by the attorney general, Merrick Garland, and in parallel he is developing another investigation into Trump’s role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
