Posted on 12/06/2024 6:15:37 AM PST by MtnClimber
The Department of Justice was obliged to open an internal investigation into Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office in June of 2023 because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, but the investigation went nowhere, and now the House Judiciary Committee is demanding answers.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday sent a letter to Jeffrey Ragsdale, Counsel for the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility expressing concern about OPR’s “refusal to take prompt investigative steps,” and urging him to preserve all records related to its highly suspect “investigation.”
After stonewalling the committee for months, OPR officials finally briefed the committee on the investigation in November, confirming that an employee in Smith’s office had “self-reported” the alleged misconduct, which involved “manipulating evidence seized by the FBI during the raid of Mar-a-Lago,” and an attempt to impose an “unprecedented” and “excessive” prison sentence upon a defendant.
Incredibly, the OPR officials told lawmakers they couldn’t investigate the allegations further because it could “interfere with” and “jeopardize” Smith’s two criminal cases against Donald Trump.
In his letter to Ragsdale, Jordan pointed out that this policy would keep “bad actor attorneys” in place to commit further prosecutorial misconduct.
“This not only defies common sense, but it seems to violate the Department’s mission to ensure that justice is done in every case,” Jordan wrote.
The Ohio congressman further noted that OPR only began investigating the allegations after Smith had announced last month that he was winding down his prosecutions, and had given OPR the go-ahead.
“You stated that Smith only allowed the investigation to begin because it would now no longer interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation and prosecution,” Jordan wrote. “It is absurd that OPR, the Department entity charged with upholding ethical conduct—would only examine allegations of prosecutorial misconduct after the subject of the allegations has approved the inquiry, the chairman added. “This process does not inspire any confidence that OPR’s examination will be independent and impartial.”
According to Jordan, OPR refused to give lawmakers a timeframe in which it would complete its investigation, and falsely claimed it did not have to release its final report to Congress “because of the Privacy Act.”
“As we explained during the briefing, the Privacy Act has an express exemption for disclosing material to a Committee chairman such that it is not a barrier to you cooperating with the Committee’s oversight,” Jordan wrote in his letter to Ragsdale.
The chairman added that OPR’s failure to cooperate with the Committee’s oversight and “apparent intention to hide information” was “more evidence that OPR operates to protect Department attorneys from independent accountability.”
Jordan reiterated the Committee’s two previous requests and told Ragsdale to preserve all existing and future records pertaining to OPR’s investigation into the prosecutorial misconduct by Smith and his team.
“Your office should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications and other information, including electronic information and metadata that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry,” Jordan wrote.
The chairman asked the office to produce the documents and information no later than 10:00 a.m., Dec. 18.
I presume that if the requested documents have not already been sent to the shredder that they will before Dec. 18.
These people are making me immeasurably angry. This stuff has to be proven teue before action can be taken, however. If true, severe punishment MUST be meted out to all actors in this mess.
These people are making me immeasurably angry. This stuff has to be proven true before action can be taken, however. If true, severe punishment MUST be meted out to all actors in this mess.
Ahhhhh..
My good old buddy JJ.
One of the largest, laziest do nothing deep state mutts ever...
We really got lucky he did not get the speaker job...
He's totally useless.
They’re going to destroy evidence and slow walk every investigation. Time to fire them, dock their pensions and take away security clearance.
I’m sure there will also be some equivalent of a Suzan Rice email.
“Please specify what documents we should bleach, burn, or bury.”
I am waiting for a sternly written letter. That will show them he is serious.
Will be slow walked until the pardon can be issued.
Notice to OPR: have all employees learn the phrase .. “will you have fries with that?”.
“I STRENUOUSLY object!”……
Jordan has become another Trey Gowdy.
Democrats shredding evidence and Jordan investigating evidence always arrive at the same point.
To be promptly followed by a disapproving glance.
After exhausting research, It seems that I have found that Psycho Jack Smith is not a member of the bar in any US state. Used to be, but not anymore, since he practices in the Hague. No need to keep up a US Bar membership because of that. However, that does not entitle him to practice anywhere in the US, even for the DoJ. It was all unauthorized practice of law (which is a STATE charge and not eligible for Presidential Pardon). Garland must be immediately impeached and investigated for this by the incoming administration’s DoJ.
To be followed by a sternly written letter. Then nothing will happen.
This guy would take a year to investigate why his shoes aren’t tied
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