Impeachment counsel Daniel Goldman demands criminal investigation into Trump — for multiple crimes
Less than one hour before a midnight deadline for former Trump advisors to comply with congressional subpoenas, attorney Daniel Goldman explained on MSNBC why he believes the Department of Justice needs to open a criminal investigation into Donald Trump.
MSNBC "11th Hour" host Brian Williams interviewed Goldman, who rose to prominence as majority counsel during Trump's first impeachment trial.
Williams noted that Trump had told former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Daniel Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel, and former strategist Steve Bannon defy the subpoenas.
Williams noted a question posted to Twitter by constitutional law expert Laurence Tribe.
"Lay out for us what the committee can possibly do, can really do," Williams asked. "Real consequences beyond kind of vague threats and promises."
"Well, the committee doesn't have that many options, but one option that is available but that was not really available in the last Congress when I worked for the House is to refer over these witnesses to the department of justice to initiate criminal contempt proceedings," he explained. "Which is a whole different animal than enforcement in court through either civil contempt or an act by Congress."
He said Trump is "intervening in an official proceeding and trying to influence others not to cooperate with an official proceeding. That is obstruction of justice."
Williams returned to Goldman later in the segment.
"Daniel Goldman, in your first answer you kind of matter of fact stated that Donald Trump does meet the definition of obstruction of justice, in public and out loud with his orders conveyed through the letters to the former employees. What about that?" Williams asked. "What about consequences there for all the folks watching who heard that part of your answer and are wondering where the consequences are for former president?"
"Look, I have been saying for a while now that the Department of Justice needs to open up an investigation — a different but overlapping investigation — into Donald Trump and his close associates post-election conduct because in many ways what they did between November and January 6 was even far worse than what they specifically did on January 6 and it prompted and perhaps caused the horrible consequences that we saw from the insurrection and the rioting," Goldman replied.
"And that requires a criminal investigation," he explained. "This is perhaps part and parcel of it or perhaps a separate investigation, but it all dovetails together with what is clear effort, a clear intent to overthrow the government, to overturn the election. And what we learned in the Senate Judiciary Committee today adds to that fire and we're basically learning something just about every week about how it was worse than what we knew before."
"And it just requires an investigation because we cannot allow a president or other senior government officials to try to overturn an election without — at a minimum — a criminal investigation into seditious conspiracy, subverting the election, whether it be obstruction of justice for what he did today, can all be part of it," Goldman said.
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