The Justice Department has issued new subpoenas as part of its investigations into the Capitol riot, according to bombshell reporting by mainstream media outlets from Fox News to The New York Times.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson obtained a subpoena leaked from the Justice Department… and he tore into the Justice Department, President Joe Biden, and Attorney General Merrick Garland over the documents contents.
The Department of Justice has attracted attention for its recent raid into the home of former President Donald Trump, but the agency is still investigating the Capitol riot, too. The two investigations are distinct.
The subpoena obtained by Carlson reportedly took issue with “any claim that the vice president… had the authority to reject or choose not to count presidential electors.”
Carlson said that the leaked subpoena revealed the administration’s plans to investigate any civilian making such claims.
“This show has obtained a subpoena from Merrick Garland’s DOJ issued in the past week, and what it demands is both unlawful and without precedent in American history,” the conservative talk show host said during Monday’s broadcast.
“Now keep in mind, that any claim you make as an American citizen about electors, any claim you make about American politics period, is protected explicitly under the First Amendment. That’s our core freedom, it’s why we live here, it’s why we’re proud to be Americans. It’s why so many American servicemen died protecting our country. Those are the freedoms that they fought to preserve, but right now, according to the subpoena that we have obtained, Merrick Garland’s DOJ is demanding all communication from the following people on this topic.”
Carlson demanded more transparency.
“Let’s be clear before we read their names that it is not clear what this investigation is actually about and that’s the most terrifying part,” Carlson said. “What is this? On what grounds are you demanding my private communications with people? They never say.”
The Justice Department has issued about 40 subpoenas in a week, several insiders told The New York Times on Monday.
According to the Times, the department also executed warrants to seize the phones of two fairly obscure figures: Trump’s in-house lawyer Boris Epshteyn and 2020 campaign strategist Mike Roman.
The department has issued subpoenas to Trump’s former social media director Dan Scavino and former New York City police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik, the Times reported.
The Times reported, “The new subpoenas encompass a wide variety of those in Mr. Trump’s orbit, from low-level aides to his most senior advisers.”
The Justice Department has faced bipartisan criticism for these actions.
While some liberals want all the lawbreakers prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, other liberals have criticized the Jan. 6 investigations for devoting too many resources to civilians like the Proud Boys and too few resources to high-ranking politicians like attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Some conservatives took it a step further. One Twitter user described the subpoena as evidence of the Biden administration’s “war on his political opponents.”
Carlson himself said, “So what is this about? It can’t possibly be about January 6, the fake insurrection, the only insurrection in history with no guns. The insurrection in which the only person shot to death was a Trump supporter. No. The point of this is to suppress political dissent. To hobble an entire political party and to keep any of these people from ever participating in American politics again. And by the way, the cost to each one of these individuals or to any person at whose house the FBI shows up is enormous.”
Watch an excerpt here —
Tucker Carlson has obtained A subpoena issued to multiple Trump allies this month.
Joe Biden has escalated the war on his political opponents. pic.twitter.com/xS8Hio4PBg
— The Dirty Truth (Josh) (@AKA_RealDirty) September 13, 2022
The Horn editorial team