In response to the Department of Justice (DOJ) sending FBI investigators to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) vowed to open an inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland if Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in this year’s midterm races.
Monday The FBI executed a search warrant for Trump property in relation to an ongoing inquiry into the former president’s improper handling of documents from his time in the White House, which could include the illegal transferring of classified documents to his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, after his term expired. Trump denounced the search as proof of “dark times for our nation,” claiming it was a “weaponization of the Justice System.”
McCarthy used similar language for the Mar-a-Lago Search description in a statement on Monday, saying that the DOJ “has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”
“When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department,” McCarthy said.
Garland was also warned of by the House’s highest ranking Republican. “Preserve your documents and clear your calendar,” he said.
McCarthy’s comment elicited widespread criticism, especially because the investigation dealt with Trump removing documents from the White House and because Trump often destroyed documents while serving as president.
During his time at the office, Trump frequently shredded papers he had written on or handledAfterward, place them in the wastebasket. White House staff reported that they had to reattach the records using clear tape. to ensure that Trump was in compliance with the Presidential Records ActThis requires that all documents that a president writes or handles must be preserved.
White House sources also revealed that Trump would sometimes take hand-shredded papers to the toilet. to attempt flushing them, occasionally clogging the toilet’s pipes in the process.
NEW: Here are photos that the NY Times’ Maggie Haberman obtained from a White House source showing documents with Trump’s handwriting on them — in two different toilets. Trump reportedly flushed both sets repeatedly. This contradicts Trump’s repeated denials. pic.twitter.com/fn1SjOFxDW
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 8, 2022
Several commentators and members of Congress condemned McCarthy’s threat to Garland.
“Dear @GOPLeader: You say you’ve ‘seen enough,’” wrote Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) on Twitter. “Did you see the classified and unclassified documents that the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago? No. No, you don’t even know what you are talking. Stop making stuff up.”
Doug Jones, a former Democratic senator for Alabama and a former federal procuror, defended Garland during a missive to McCarthy.
“AG Garland will follow the law,” Jones said. “He will not delete texts, burn documents in a fireplace or tear them up a try & flush them down a toilet as happened in the last Administration.”
“And BTW, have you preserved your documents?” Jones asked McCarthy. “A grand jury might want to know.”
“Fascinating new position from House Republican leader, who has led GOP in refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas and investigations going back to Trump first impeachment,” said The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.
McCarthy’s threat to investigate Garland’s “by the book” search of Mar-a-LagoIt depends on Republicans winning control over the House in the midterms. After a new president is elected, the midterm race will be for control of the House. the president’s party tends to lose seats — and with the House almost evenly divided right now, with Democrats controlling the chamber by only a slight margin, prognosticators are saying that the trend is likely to hold true this year, too.
Recent data suggests that Democrats have a chance of retaining control of Congress, however. An aggregate of polls taken by RealClearPolitics, the two parties are essentially tied. Monmouth University also published a poll last Wednesday. 50 percent of voters wanted Democrats in CongressOnly 43% wanted the GOP to be in control.
