Experts say Trump probe is a baseless 'fishing expedition'

Nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 2, Jason Reding Quiñones is a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) District of Southern Florida. Now, according to The Guardian's Peter Stone, Quiñones is "expanding an investigation" of former FBI and intel officials who, in 2016, probed Russian interference in that year's U.S. presidential race. But many legal experts, Stone reports, view Quiñones' efforts as a "fishing expedition."

"The investigation's apparent focus is to identify ways to criminally charge ex-FBI and intelligence officials who have already been investigated and effectively exonerated by two special counsels and a Republican-led Senate panel, which mounted exhaustive inquiries into Russia's efforts to boost Trump in 2016," Stone explains in an article published on December 17.

"Led by Jason Reding Quiñones…. who is close to (U.S.) Attorney General Pam Bondi and other key MAGA allies, the inquiry accelerated with a flurry of subpoenas in November and new prosecutors to expedite what has been dubbed a 'grand conspiracy' investigation. Among others, subpoenas have reportedly gone to ex-CIA director John Brennan, who led the 2016 Russia inquiry; James Clapper, the ex-director of national intelligence; Peter Strzok, a former FBI counter-intelligence agent who helped lead the Russia inquiry; and Lisa Page, an ex-FBI lawyer."

Two prosecutors assigned to Quiñones' probe, according to Stone, resigned. And former DOJ Inspector General Michael Bromwich views the probe as politically motivated.

Bromwich told The Guardian, "There is simply no factual basis for this investigation. It violates both DOJ and FBI standards that require a factual predicate. It is a fishing expedition where it has been clearly established — by two prior independent counsel investigations and a congressional investigation led by the current secretary of state —there are no fish. The government has refused to provide the basis for venue in Florida; nor has it been willing to describe the statutory violatiosns it is pursuing. That is unprecedented in my 40-plus years of federal criminal practice.”

Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former DOJ prosecutor who is often featured as a legal analyst on MS NOW, is equally critical of Quiñones' efforts.

Noting that previous investigations of the 2016 probe "ended with a whimper," McQuade told The Guardian, "The idea that Trump loyalists are now going to investigate again should make us all suspicious of their motive. If evidence sufficient to support criminal charges existed, we would have seen it by now."