CNN's Elie Honig questioned the series of decisions that led to the resignations of multiple high-ranking prosectors in the Department of Justice over an immigration agent's killing of a woman in MInneapolis.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declared Tuesday "there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation" into the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, which prompted the departures of at least five prosecutors in the DOJ's Civil Rights Division and five others in the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office.
"How on earth can the number two prosecutor at the United States Justice Department, on the basis of essentially zero investigation, six days after this fatal shooting happened, declare, as he has now done, case over," Honig told "CNN News Central." "To be clear, when Todd Blanche says there will be no investigation for civil rights violations, that would be the only potential criminal charge. There's a federal criminal law for criminal violation of a person's civil rights. We see it a lot in cases involving use of force by police officers, state, local and federal."
Honig said the deputy attorney general's declaration violated the basic rules of justice.
"So when Todd Blanche says there's no civil rights investigation, that means there's no criminal investigation, and to draw that conclusion right now, first of all, I think at a minimum, this is a close call that needs a full investigation," Honig said. "But it also is contrary to everything you are taught as a prosecutor: You investigate first, you decide second, and here they're just flipping it on its head. The decision has been rendered."
Honig further added that he has "never" seen a similar situation, in which the DOJ signals attempts to investigate the victim and not the shooter.
- YouTube youtu.be
