According to former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, senior Department of Justice officials who are taking part in stalling turning over information U.S. District Judge James Boasberg are at a legitimate risk of being prosecuted if the judge sees fit.
Speaking with MSNBC host Ana Cabrera, Vance suggested that what she is witnessing is "stonewalling," including a new filing made by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche claiming there is a Cabinet-level discussion still ongoing over the reasoning for delaying turning over information.
"What this attestation from the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, does is it's minimal compliance with the court's order," she told the host. "Todd Blanche has simply said, 'I'm aware and I've been involved in these conversations at the cabinet level.' Look, I think it's appropriate for the Cabinet to take its time to determine whether or not to invoke state secrets, which is a common law doctrine that prevents courts from inquiring into military secrets that could damage our national security. On the other hand, the government is flirting with violating the judge's order, and he has plenty of possibilities for contempt proceedings against the government if he finally loses his patience with them."
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Asked to elaborate, she added, "There's actually a provision in the federal rules of criminal procedure that lets the judge appoint a private prosecutor if the government isn't willing, which they almost certainly would not be willing in this situation. There's some precedent for that to happen. I've been involved in a matter in my district many years ago during the Bush administration, where a judge actually did that and permitted a prosecution for contempt to move forward in that case against a private party, not the government."
"But there's good indication from courts in the District of Columbia that you can make sanctions against the government, including jailing government officials or requiring them to pay damages personally if a contempt prosecution is successful," she added.
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