Laurence Tribe made the prediction on CNN on Saturday, speaking to host Wolf Blitzer, who asked the professor if he thought the DOJ was headed in that direction. “Merrick Garland is a friend and former student of mine. He’s an honest man, he’s serious, he said he’d go to the top if that’s where the evidence points, and that’s certainly where it’s pointing now,” Mr. Tribe told CNN. This prediction, while certain in itself, helps illustrate the overall air of uncertainty in the legal and political world surrounding whether or not Mr. Trump will actually face any consequences for Jan. 6. It’s a big departure from what lawmakers on Capitol Hill have said, including those on the Jan. 6 committee like Adam Schiff. Mr. Schiff was publicly concerned a week ago that he saw “no indication” that the Justice Department was going after Trump at all. The agency, meanwhile, has charged hundreds of participants in the congressional attack with various low-level offenses and sought varying degrees of punishment. a handful of far-right activists, including the leader of the Proud Boys, have been hit with more serious charges, including conspiracy mongering. The Jan. 6 panel in recent weeks has developed a case for Mr. Trump to be charged with crimes such as conspiracy, as members have shown that the White House was well aware of the potential for mass violence that erupted in January. 6 and continued their efforts to subvert the election anyway. They also showed how Trump’s closest advisers, including family members such as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, were opposed to the idea and did not support the fraud allegations being pushed by the president who the attorney general had told him was nonsense. However, the commission does not have the power to issue criminal charges and must therefore rely on the Department of Justice and its standard refusal to publicly or privately confirm major developments in investigations before they take place. A criminal investigation that is certainly ongoing and could soon turn into an indictment is being pursued by prosecutors in Georgia, who have convened a subpoena to hear arguments that Mr. Trump improperly pressured state officials in his bid to overturn his loss to Joe Biden. in this condition. The Jan. 6 panel held a surprise hearing last week with explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and is set to hold at least one more public hearing in the coming weeks.
