Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 02:06 pm
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) explained how President Biden is double firewalled off from the Trump criminal case and why Trump’s allegations against Biden fall flat.
Video of Sen. Whitehouse on ABC’s This Week:
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on Trump's defense, "When you’re dealing with federal prosecutors, that stuff just doesn’t work. It doesn’t matter. It’s just background noise to the federal prosecutors. So, it’s not going to help him at all in this case." pic.twitter.com/HkntoGCI86
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 18, 2023
Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
KARL: If – if Trump wins the nomination, Biden would find himself running against somebody that is possibly under trial, in maybe multiple cases, prosecuted by his own Justice Department. How — how do you see that playing out?
WHITEHOUSE: Well, I think he’s done a good job steering well clear of the prosecution. As you know, there are at least two firewalls between the president and this prosecution. First, he does not do business with Attorney General Garland. He does not speak to him about criminal-related matters. And, second, Garland is firewalled off from this prosecution because he’s appointed a special counsel. And his ability to engage with the special counsel is extremely limited. Limited basically to violations of departmental rules and policies and procedures and so forth, which hasn’t even been alleged yet.
So, he’s a long way from the special counsel prosecution. And I think that goes forward the way it should, pursuant to rule of law, pursuant to justice policy, and pursuant to the very able judgment of the special counsel team.
Trump needs to attach his indictment to President Biden to discredit it as a political attack, but as Sen. Whitehouse explained, there is no way that Biden is doing what Trump is suggesting. Biden is firewalled off from the DOJ. Unlike Trump, President Biden doesn’t use the DOJ as his personal attorney and political arm.
The dumbest thing that Biden and the Democrats could do would be to throw Trump a lifeline by commenting on the indictment and the investigation. The indictment is a legal, not a political problem, and Democrats should in no way help Trump to politicize it.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
