According to a bombshell report from the Washington Post, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi is considering a plan that would let federal prosecutors investigate and indict members of Congress unfettered by traditional oversight designed to stop political persecution.
Traditionally, before such an investigation could proceed, a prosecutor would have their case reviewed by the lawyers in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. But that would go away under the new proposal.
The report notes that, should the proposal go into effect, "a long-standing provision in the Justice Department’s manual that outlines how investigations of elected officials should be conducted" would be shunted aside and allow possible prosecutions based purely on politics.
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Former Public Integrity Section attorney Dan Schwager sounded the alarm about the proposal by suggesting U.S. attorneys put in place by the president could use their power to pursue perceived enemies of the person who appointed them.
“The reason you have the section is exactly what this administration says they want, which is stop politicization,” he explained. “That requires a respect and ability to understand how the laws have been applied in similar situations in the past. The only way to ensure that public officials on both sides of the aisle are treated similarly is to have as much institutional knowledge and experience as possible.”
As it stands now, political corruption cases undergo special scrutiny near elections because they can severely impact election results even if nothing comes out of it and the investigation drops.
As the Post report notes, "The Justice Department manual says that PIN [Public Integrity Section] attorneys must approve — not just be consulted on — charges against members of Congress when the allegations are related to their public office or campaign activities. Still, the attorney general has final say on whether an indictment should be brought."
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