The Federal Election Commission is dropping the hammer on President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.
On Wednesday, the Washington Free Beacon posted a letter from FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and counsel Jeffrey Ragsdale, alleging the DOJ violated its own internal policies when it sent a letter to Elon Musk giving a warning about his political action committee giving away $1 million to registered voters in swing states.
The DOJ letter was picked up by the New York Times on Oct. 23. Cooksey broke down its substance and the issues he saw with the DOJ’s actions in his letter Wednesday.
Cooksey alleged the letter was leaked internally at the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section of its Criminal Division, with its intent being “to intimidate and chill private citizens and organizations from campaigning on behalf of President Trump.”
The content of the DOJ letter “informed America PAC that its constitutionally protected political activities may violate federal laws against paying individuals to register to vote, and then threatened the organization with potential criminal investigation and prosecution,” according to Cooksey.
Speaking on the actual violations that took place by the DOJ, he said:
“Public Integrity’s actions appear to be in violation of multiple Department policies. At the outset, it is not apparent that the Department allows for its attorneys to issue ‘warning letters’ in this form that opine on the legality of individuals’ conduct.”
He then quoted the Justice Manual’s “prohibition against impermissible considerations for Department actions,” a section that says, “[F]ederal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution, or select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”
Cooksey said that “was plainly the case here,” adding that “[t]he underlying motivation behind this stunt is obvious: employees of President Biden’s Department of Justice wanted to stop an independent political committee from campaigning for President Trump in crucial swing states just prior to election day.”
Should everyone at the DOJ involved in the letter be fired and potentially prosecuted?
“It is yet another example in the Department’s troubling recent history of interfering in our country’s democratic electoral process for partisan purposes,” he continued.
“Our country cannot allow the Department to be used as a weapon against its perceived political opponents,” he concluded. “I urge you to help undertake a thorough investigation, remove bad actors from the Department’s ranks, and hold guilty parties accountable.”
Is there a legal basis behind the DOJ’s warning to Musk that would elevate it beyond bullying and intimidation?
As Cooksey put it himself, “The letter acknowledges that America PAC has not been accused of any direct legal violation, and as the Justice Manual makes clear, there is ordinarily ‘no legitimate government interest served by the government’s public allegation of wrongdoing by an uncharged party.’”
The DOJ decided Musk’s efforts were bad for the Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris, so they decided to try to scare him into stopping.
Musk did nothing wrong, and his actions weren’t election interference.
Ironically, it is the DOJ that was interfering in an election with the warning letter to Musk.
Cooksey made it clear that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory did not absolve the DOJ of all wrongdoing.
After relentless lawfare against the president-elect, and now an obvious case of interference, there needs to be accountability.
With Rep Matt Gaetz as Trump’s pick for attorney general, hopes are high that this corruption can be rooted out and the DOJ can resume actually serving the American people.
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