Brett Tolman: Garland really had no other choice but to appoint special counsel
Former U.S. attorney Brett Tolman and constitutional attorney Jonathan Turley react to a special counsel being assigned by Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe the Biden classified documents on 'The Story.'
The political weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice finally hit a wall last week as Attorney General Merrick B. Garland boxed himself into having to appoint a special counsel to examine classified documents squirreled away in multiple locations by then-Vice President Joe Biden. While many are questioning Garland and the DOJ’s handling of both Trump’s "Mar-a-Lago" and Biden’s "Car-a-Lago" possession of classified documents, it’s the content of these Biden papers that could become potentially one of the biggest political scandals in our nation’s history.
For years, we’ve witnessed the DOJ dragging its feet on the investigation of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal. Allegations contained on the laptop, which appear to have been substantiated by both Hunter Biden in emails and text messages by whistleblower Tony Bobulinski reveal that members of the Biden family, including the "Big Guy", may have benefitted financially from their dealings with Ukraine and China. If any of these classified documents uncovered inside a closet at the Penn Biden think tank or in the "locked garage" next to Joe Biden’s prized Corvette have anything to do with the Biden pay-to-play scandal, game over.
We deserve to know if the Biden classified documents are meaningless or nefarious. Special counsel Robert K. Hur, a veteran prosecutor and Trump appointee, is Garland’s appointee to investigate the "possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records discovered."
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR: TIMELINE OF BIDEN'S CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS DEBACLE
Already the White House says Biden lawyers acted promptly, yet we know a leak is the only reason the White House disclosed their existence. The discoveries occurred more than two months ago, before the November midterm elections. Which means Garland knew of the brewing Biden classified documents scandal at the time he was informing the nation that he was appointing a special counsel to investigate Trump’s possession of classified documents.
Americans deserve to see justice done and equally and fairly applied regardless of an individual's political position.
More than politics, the fact that some of the Biden classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, which houses the think tank, is more than suspect with the tens of millions of dollars in donations from the Chinese.
Public records show that from 2014 through 2019, donations from China totaled more than $54 million, with the largest of $23.1 million in anonymous gifts starting in 2016. Emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop outline his involvement before the think tank’s inception with terms like "wealth creation" and keeping meetings "very confidential."
As a former U.S. Attorney, who has held TS/SCI clearance and both prosecuted and defended these types of cases, albeit on a smaller political scale, I can tell you there’s no doubt Garland clearly has the basis to believe that there is the potential for a crime to have occurred. The mere possession of classified documents can be prosecuted.
Hur is authorized to fully investigate crimes he discovers in this inquiry, and he can refer crimes for prosecution to several jurisdictions. Depending on what these sensitive papers contain, multiple members of the Biden family, including the "Big Guy," could face bigger problems than just mishandling of classified documents.
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Hur has the burden to uncover all the facts surrounding the possession and movement of the classified documents, but he must also explore the impetus of their removal by discerning what information the documents contain and since we know they have some relation to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, whether such documents have any relation to the alleged scheme outlined by Hunter Biden and Tony Bobulinski.
If, for example, these documents are an effort to hide information relevant to the allegations that Hunter Biden was selling access and influence via the "Big Guy" to Ukraine or China, then multiple members of the Biden family and such a conspiracy, including the "Big Guy," could very well deserve criminal prosecution and time behind bars.
It is encouraging that the new congressional judiciary subcommittee will be investigating DOJ, FBI, and other government agencies for weaponizing their power against American citizens and will explore abuse and misconduct at the very top of these agencies.
Now more than ever, the country wants to know if there is a DOJ double standard favoring one political side over another. But the start to 2023 already has us asking why has the Biden classified documents investigation been treated differently than the investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago?
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Americans deserve to see justice done and equally and fairly applied regardless of an individual's political position.
The Department of Justice has an opportunity to reinstill confidence, but it will take extraordinary effort, transparency, and accountability by Garland, Hur, and others.