President-elect Joe Biden has decried what he sees as the politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Donald Trump‘s tenure and has vowed to let prosecutors operate independently of political interference.
However, many Congressional Democrats — including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris — have argued that the Justice Department should investigate members of the Trump administration, including the president.
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) took to Twitter on Tuesday to write, “In 2021 the entire Trump regime must be fully investigated by the Dept of Justice and other relevant offices. Trump and his worst enablers must be tried for their crimes.”
“Any further pardon abuse would itself be obstruction of justice and any self-pardons illegal,” he added.
In 2021 the entire Trump regime must be fully investigated by the Dept of Justice and other relevant offices. Trump and his worst enablers must be tried for their crimes. Any further pardon abuse would itself be obstruction of justice and any self-pardons illegal.
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) November 17, 2020
Failure to hold financial & political wrongdoing accountable has invited greater malfeasance by bad actors. A repeat of those failures in 2021 further emboldens crimes by our leaders & continues America down a path of lawlessness and authoritarianism. There must be accountability
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) November 17, 2020
In October, Harris vowed, “We will not have a Department of Justice that conducts itself as the personal lawyer of the president, such as the way that Donald Trump has done.”
And Biden has said he does not believe the prosecution of a former president would be “good for democracy.”
However, he said, “I will not interfere with the Justice Department’s judgment of whether or not they think they should pursue the prosecution of anyone that they think has violated the law.”
“In terms of saying, ‘I think the president violated the law. I think the president did this, therefore, go on and prosecute him’ — I will not do that,” he added.
The former vice president has also accused the Trump administration of being “the most corrupt administration in modern American history.”
And he charged that “the Justice Department has turned into the president’s private law firm … It’s become the Department of Trump, and that’s wrong.”
In 2019, Harris said she believes prosecutors would “have no choice” but to prosecute Trump.