Emptywheel: Why to delay Meadows indictment: Bannon using indictment to monitor J6 investigation

[Fiendish Thingy]

https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/02/07/why-to-delay-a-mark-meadows-indictment-bannon-is-using-his-contempt-prosecution-to-monitor-the-ongoing-january-6-investigation/

Marcy makes a great case why DOJ isn’t indicting Meadows now, brings the receipts, and some cases, the receipts for those receipts.

In this post, I described that DOJ would be smarter to charge Mark Meadows with obstruction for his destruction of records relevant to an ongoing investigation than to charge him for misdemeanor criminal contempt of Congress. That’s because obstruction, a felony, would pose the risk of real jail time, which would be more likely to convince Meadows to cooperate with investigators and explain what he did as part of an attempt to steal the election.

-snip-

When I’ve pointed this explanation out to those wondering why DOJ has yet to (visibly) act on the Meadows contempt referral the January 6 Select Committee the House sent over on December 14, they ask why DOJ can’t just charge Meadows with contempt now and then follow up with obstruction charges later.

The answer is clear. Doing so will make any ongoing investigation far more difficult.

We can see why that’s true from the Bannon case. Bannon has already used his contempt prosecution as a means to obtain evidence about an ongoing obstruction investigation implicating Trump.

-snip-

Given what Meadows has already done, DOJ surely views the potential of Meadows’ cooperation as more useful than a time-consuming and restrictive contempt prosecution.

And that’s true, first and foremost, because charging Meadows with contempt now would further limit their ability to shield parts of their investigation from the suspected co-conspirators.

Much, much more at link.

[cilla4progress]

1. I'm sure there is a strategy behind it,

no matter what!

[EYESORE 9001]

2. So...you're telling me...

that the DOJ doesn’t just fly by the seat of its pants? I am also surprised to find that decisions aren’t made by internet randos who think they know everything.

[DeeNice]

3. I know you're being sarcastic but look at what's happening on the right...

Members of congress allowing internet buzz to lead their decision making. Make enough noise, make the crowd sound bigger than it really is and they will do your bidding for fear of losing office. And no one expects any better of them.

[Pantagruel]

4. Good luck explaining

pre-trial legal maneuvering to impatient for justice DU posters. I have just enough legal background to sympathize if not completely understand the issues. Thanks for your efforts.