CNN: DOJ Eyes Naming Special Counsel If Trump Runs in 2024 (Newsmax)
By Jeffrey Rodack | Friday, 04 November 2022 11:21 AM EDT
Justice Department officials have discussed whether a new White House run by Donald Trump would create the need for a special counsel to oversee two major federal investigations relating to the former president, CNN is reporting.
The news network noted the DOJ is bringing in experienced prosecutors to the investigations so it is prepared for any decisions sparked by the probes, including a potential move to indict Trump.
Trump has ratcheted up his 2024 presidential campaign tease.
And his Save America rally line Thursday in Sioux City, Iowa, was the closest he has come to officially declaring his intentions to run for the White House again.
"In order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very, probably do it again, OK?" Trump told the crowd.
CNN said Trump was inching closer to launching another run for the White House after the midterms on Tuesday.
The investigations center on his handling of national security documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, CNN said.
While DOJ officials have remained mum on the probes in the weeks leading up to the midterms, behind the scenes investigators have remained busy, CNN said.
They have used aggressive grand jury subpoenas and secret battles in court to compel some witnesses to testify in both probes.
The CNN sources insist that no decision has been made yet regarding the appointment of a special prosecutor. However, CNN said it has been debated whether doing so could insulate the DOJ from claims that President Joe Biden's administration is targeting his chief political rival.
Meanwhile, Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee released a 1,000-page report on Friday of potential investigations into how the Biden administration has politicized the Justice Department and the FBI.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the ranking member of the committee, has been gathering information from FBI and DOJ whistleblowers, detailing allegations of politicized justice under President Joe Biden.
"This report is a road map of where [Jordan] will go," a GOP House Judiciary staffer told Axios ahead of the document's release. "Lots of whistleblowers are coming out of the woodwork to complain about the FBI. Jordan is pursuing these vectors into the FBI."