So much for the claim that the Justice Department is using criminal prosecution as a political weapon.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New Jersey obtained a conviction against Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on 16 counts including bribery, fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice. The vigorous prosecution of a Democrat in a closely divided U.S. Senate demonstrated clearly that DOJ does not use political affiliation as a factor in making charging decisions.
In addition to the Menendez case, federal prosecutors recently filed criminal charges against another Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar, of Texas. Cuellar and his wife were charged in May with bribery and money laundering for an alleged scheme to accept $600,000 from an Azerbaijani oil and gas company and a Mexican bank in exchange for using his office to influence policy in their favor. (Cuellar has denied any wrongdoing.)
These cases should help refute baseless claims that the Department of Justice under the Biden administration is using prosecution as a political tool.
These cases should help refute the baseless claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the Department of Justice under the Biden administration is using prosecution as a political tool. After his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, Trump posted on social media that it was “naïve” to believe that “Crooked Joe Biden was not involved in my Show Trial. HOW STUPID! Not only is he involved, he is virtually leading it, and all of the other Trials as well.” Trump advised the public to “take a look at the DOJ/White House Thugs involved, and everything else. Biden is incompetent, and feels that Weaponization is the only way he can win.”
But it’s important to remember that those claims have no basis in fact. Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed in both of Trump’s federal cases precisely to provide a measure of independence from the president. (Trump was separately charged with interfering in the 2020 presidential election and unlawfully retaining national defense information. On Monday, the classified documents case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, but Smith has vowed to appeal.) And state prosecutors, like New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, are members of separate sovereigns, beholden in no way to a U.S. president.
And yet, during a recent interview, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was on the vice presidential short list, echoed this same false narrative. “I’m uncomfortable with the fact now that we have a president who targets political opponents. That’s what’s happened under Joe Biden,” Rubio said. “You look at what their efforts and what they’ve done in the courts to persecute and prosecute Donald Trump,” he said. “They tried to bankrupt him. They’ve tried to silence him. They’ve tried to jail him. They’ve gone after his allies every single day. Some of these are ridiculous charges.”
One of the great casualties of the Trump era has been public confidence in law enforcement. Accusations that DOJ has been “weaponized” to go after public officials based on political motives undermines the legitimacy of the criminal justice system. And false claims that are repeated, no matter how ludicrous, can gain traction among some members of the public.
As a former federal prosecutor, I know that DOJ attorneys are nonpartisan professionals who scrupulously avoid politics. DOJ’s policies are contained in an online handbook known as the Justice Manual. Among its foundational policies are the “Principles of Federal Prosecution,“ which state: “In determining whether to commence or recommend prosecution or take other action against a person, the attorney for the government may not be influenced by the person’s... political association, activities, or beliefs.”
Attacking the credibility of democratic institutions is a tactic authoritarians have used throughout history.
These rules are enforced by supervisors, the Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the disciplinary authorities of the states where prosecutors are licensed as members of the bar. Prosecutors who violate these rules are subject to suspension, termination or disbarment. Further checks on prosecutorial abuse exist in the form of grand juries and trial juries, trial judges and appellate judges.
Attacking the credibility of democratic institutions is a tactic authoritarians have used throughout history. If people lack confidence in the press, in the civil service, in career prosecutors, or in the courts, then efforts to hold corrupt officials accountable is weakened. Republicans have worked to undermine all of these groups.
But for now, the Menendez case provides just one more concrete example of DOJ prosecuting cases appropriately — that is, meting out justice based on facts, not political agendas.