DOJ’s reluctance to probe Trump directly helped him 'spread lies about the 2020 election': journalist

During an interview with CBS News' Robert Costa that aired on Sunday, June 18, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr predicted special counsel Jack Smith will probably "pull the trigger" and indict former President Donald Trump in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Smith has been conducting two Trump-related investigations: one on government documents he was storing at Mar-a-Lago, the other on his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The Mar-a-Lago probe has resulted in a 37-count criminal indictment, but so far, Trump hasn't been indicted in the January 6 case — although Barr believes that he probably will.

But hiring Smith to investigate Trump's post-election/January 6 activities isn't something that Merrick Garland did right away after becoming U.S. attorney general. According to Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, the Garland DOJ waited over a year before investigating Trump's January 6-related activities.

READ MORE: Bill Barr: Jack Smith will probably 'pull the trigger' and indict Trump for Jan. 6, too

In The New Republic, journalist Tori Otten notes that after Garland was sworn in as U.S. attorney general in 2021, the DOJ "resisted looking into Trump or members of his inner circle, even as evidence of an organized scheme to overturn the 2020 election piled up."

"Instead, newly sworn-in Attorney General Merrick Garland and his team opted for a 'bottom-up' strategy, focusing first on the rioters and working their way up," Otten explains. "Garland and his team refrained from directly investigating the former president out of fear of looking politically partisan."

Otten adds that although the Garland DOJ was quick to investigate the January 6 rioters, it wasn't until November 2022 that Garland "finally appointed special counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents and his alleged role in the January 6 attack."

"The Post attributes this delay to 'a wariness about appearing partisan, institutional caution, and clashes over how much evidence was sufficient to investigate the actions of Trump and those around him," Otten notes. "(Federal prosecutor Michael) Sherwin, senior Justice Department officials, and the deputy FBI director all opposed investigating Trump or his allies directly, arguing it was too early, the Post reported. But Garland then continued with this approach, giving Trump more time to spread lies about the 2020 election."

READ MORE: 'We were embarrassed': DOJ insiders told reporter they acted on Jan. 6 only after House committee shamed them

Read The New Republic's full article at this link and the Washington Post's full report here (subscription required).