Senate Judiciary Committee targets Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions in Trump DOJ spying scandal
In the wake of the bombshell revelation that the Trump DOJ illegally spied on the personal data of multiple House Democrats, the Deputy Attorney General has asked the DOJ Inspector General to investigate the scandal. This is big deal, and puts in motion an eventual criminal probe into the matter. In the meantime, what about public awareness? It turns out the Democrats have that covered.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, with the backing of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is now demanding that former Trump Attorneys General Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions appear before the committee to answer questions about the scandal. No matter how this plays out, it’s a win for the Democrats and a loss for Team Trump:
-If Barr and Sessions do show up, and they try to protect themselves by incriminating other Trump DOJ people, or by claiming they were just following Trump’s orders, then it’ll kick the scandal wide open and it’ll become bigger than Watergate in the minds of the general public.
– If Barr and Sessions show up and perjure themselves, then the committee can refer them to the DOJ for felony charges.
– If Barr and Sessions show up but try to avoid answering the questions, it’ll only help build public demand for greater accountability, which will place more pressure on the DOJ to launch a criminal probe on the back of the Inspector General investigation.
– If Barr and Sessions refuse to show up, they’ll be subpoenaed. If they then go into court and try to fight those subpoenas, that will also build public demand for accountability and place pressure on the DOJ to do something about it.
We can’t predict what move Barr and Sessions will make next (and neither can you), but no matter how they play this, it’ll go poorly for them. This is all heading in the direction of accountability for the Trump DOJ and its criminal actions. The Democrats, and the general public, aren’t going to accept a different outcome.
