In a bombshell revelation, the Justice Department has formed a grand jury to investigate January 6th and indict anyone for any crimes the jury believes were committed during that period. This is an important development, significantly increasing the chance that top Trump administration officials and Trump himself face criminal accountability for their actions leading up to that day.
News regarding the formation of a grand jury comes out through witnesses talking about their testimony. Grand juries operate secretly. Prosecutors and jury members cannot talk about its existence or the target of the investigation, there is no press release from DOJ. But witnesses can speak about the existence of a grand jury. Former V.P. Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Marc Short testified to the grand jury and talked about his testimony on ABC News.
From Mediaite:
Short — who served a brief stint as a CNN contributor between jobs in Trump’s White House — was interviewed Monday night by ABC News’ Linsey Davis just days after he testified to a grand jury in Attorney General Merrick Garland‘s investigation into the attack on the Capitol.
Short wouldn’t talk about his specific testimony. But he did note one thing:
But Short did make a point of pushing back on what he says is a “mischaracterization” by the committee of the danger Pence and his Secret Service detail were in during the riot.
The Committee seemed to imply that Secret Service agents were calling family members to say goodbye. That is ridiculous, and Short points out the same by saying that if protestors had gotten closer to Pence, it would have been a “massacre” that day. A lot of protesters would have died.
Meanwhile, CNN’s Jeffery Toobin noted that Marc Short is the first person to acknowledge testifying before a grand jury and his interview, in effect, operates as an announcement that DOJ has taken the next step in investigating January 6th. From a separate Mediaite story:
CNN’s Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin believes that the recent Grand Jury testimony of Marc Short, the former Chief of Staff to VP Mike Pence, is a “really big deal.”
“The Justice Department has been criticized by a lot of people because it has apparently only focused on the relative minor players in the January 6th story, the hundreds of people who went in the Capitol,” Toobin explained. “This suggests that the Justice Department is now criminally investigating the White House.”
“Suggests” is too weak. This proves that the Justice Department is now criminally investigating the Trump White House. It is a huge revelation. One note of caution is warranted, however. DOJ is notorious for taking a long time with grand juries. The federal government tends not to charge a person until that person has already convicted themselves. The process is thorough and lengthy.
But it has begun, and that is earth-shattering news.
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