President Donald Trump finds himself indicted on charges related to January 6, in a case led by the same Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors who, just years prior, declined to pursue charges against ex-FBI official Andrew McCabe. Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney, key members of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team on the Trump case, previously determined there was no basis to charge McCabe despite allegations of lying under oath about the 2016 Clinton Foundation investigations.
In 2020, these prosecutors wrote to McCabe’s legal team: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the Government at this time, we consider the matter closed.” The decision came after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s findings that McCabe “lacked candor, including under oath,” regarding his disclosure to the Wall Street Journal “to advance his interests at the expense of Department leadership.”
DOJ lawyers assigned to special counsel Jack Smith on Trump case are the same ones who DECLINED to prosecute FBI official Andrew McCabe https://t.co/ybPBJ2ZU4v
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 6, 2023
Journalist Julie Kelly posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “All of a sudden. Jack Smith’s top prosecutors in charge of the J6 case against Trump are very concerned about alleged ‘lies’ and ‘false statements’ by a top government official. Wasn’t so long ago they looked the other way.”
All of a sudden. Jack Smith's top prosecutors in charge of the J6 case against Trump are very concerned about alleged "lies" and "false statements" by a top government official.
Wasn't so long ago they looked the other way:https://t.co/UBTcw5Qm3u
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 5, 2023
Fast-forward to last Tuesday, and Gaston and Cooney aligned with Special Counsel Jack Smith to indict Trump on charges linked to the January 6, 2021, Capitol protests. These charges claim the former president aimed to defraud the U.S. and obstruct an official proceeding, among other claims.
The disparity between how these two political figures, McCabe and Trump, have been treated hasn’t gone unnoticed. Trump, never one to shy from criticism, noted the seeming double standard in DOJ’s approach. He commented on McCabe’s reprieve, “So they now convict Roger Stone of lying… Well, what about… McCabe… Didn’t they lie?”
It’s not just Trump’s indictment that’s drawing attention. Gaston and the team tried to curb Trump’s remarks concerning the court proceedings on Friday. They took umbrage at his message on his Truth Social platform, where he wrote, “If you go after me, I’m coming for you!”
For followers of these proceedings, the contrast in the treatment of McCabe and Trump remains palpable. Gaston and Cooney’s previous willingness to forgo charging McCabe and their present fervor in indicting Trump raises questions about potential bias within the DOJ and the consistency of its prosecutorial decisions.
Given their earlier decision regarding McCabe – a top government official who was found to have lied under oath – it seems surprising that the same prosecutors are now profoundly concerned with alleged false statements by another official.
As the courtroom battles unfold, the question on many minds will be whether justice is genuinely impartial or if political leanings shade its sight. Only time will tell, and perhaps the course of these legal proceedings.
