Senate Democrats urge Garland to preserve evidence from Trump investigations
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee want the Justice Department to preserve all records related to special counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Donald Trump, in addition to all existing and future records related to the department's investigations and prosecutions of efforts to interfere with the transfer of power following Trump's 2020 election loss, they wrote Monday in a letter to the DOJ obtained by ABC News.
Trump has vowed to shut down all ongoing investigations into his dealings upon returning to the Oval Office later this month. The letter, addressed to current Attorney General Merrick Garland and signed by all Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, comes just one week before Trump's inauguration.
"As President-elect Trump has repeatedly made clear, he intends to swiftly shut down any investigations related to his alleged misconduct and involvement in 2020 election subversion efforts and his mishandling of classified documents," Democrats wrote in the letter. They said the Department must take "immediate" steps to preserve documents "in light of these threats."
Smith, who investigated Trump over allegations of interfering with the 2020 election and his alleged unlawful retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, formally resigned as special counsel last week after submitting his final report on the probes to Garland.
The release of Smith's final report on the two cases has been the subject of a recent court battle as Trump and lawyers for his former co-defendants have attempted to block the public release of the report. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed Donald Trump's classified documents case, ruled that DOJ can release Volume One of Smith's report, covering his election interference case against Trump -- but is reserving ruling on whether the DOJ can make Volume Two, on the classified documents case, available to congressional leadership for review.
In their letter Monday, Democrats on the committee said they want to ensure that they can later request access to the report if merited.
"The Committee recognizes the current injunction against the release of Special Counsel Smith's report and related materials and reserves its right to request production of the report and relevant records at an appropriate future date," they wrote.
The letter to Garland also comes just days before the Judiciary Committee is slated to consider former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's nomination to serve as the new attorney general, after Trump selected her for the role following former Rep. Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from consideration.
Bondi has long been a fixture in Trump's orbit, allying herself with Trump early in his political ascension and later serving as the chairwoman of a think tank set up by former Trump staffers after Trump's first term in office. She defended Trump during his first impeachment trial in the Senate, and has been vocally critical of many of the cases that the Department of Justice has pursued against Trump, including those whose records Democrats now hope to preserve.
"The President-elect's intended nominee for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has promised to weaponize the Department of Justice against those who were involved in these investigations, threatening: 'When Republicans take back the White House… [t]he Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted--the bad ones. The investigators will be Investigated,'" Democrats wrote in their letter. "In light of these threats, it is critical that the Department take immediate preservation steps related to these investigations and prosecutions."
Democrats in their letter reminded the Justice Department of its legal responsibility to preserve all documents, whether physical or electronic, as the transition process continues.
Representatives for the Justice Department and the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information. He also pleaded not guilty in 2023 to separate charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
Both cases were dismissed following Trump's reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
