Legitimacy of DoJ 'Eroding' Without Trump and Meadows Charges: Kirschner

The legitimacy of the Department of Justice will be brought into question if Donald Trump and Mark Meadows do not face criminal charges in relation to the January 6 attack, according to a legal expert.

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner was discussing the latest hearing from the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, which presented its seventh day of evidence on Tuesday.

Among some of the biggest revelations were further allegations of alleged witness tampering from Trump and that the former president planned in advance for his supporters to march to the Capitol on January 6.

The panel also detailed how Trump's "Be there, will be wild!" tweet on December 19, 2020, promoting the election protests in D.C on January 6, was used as a rallying cry for the far-right extremist groups to start planning to storm the Capitol.

trump jan 6 hearings
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the seventh hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on July 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Speaking on his "Justice Matters" YouTube channel, Kirschner described the "unfairness and injustice" that Trump and Meadows have not yet faced "one second of accountability," but the former president's supporters who took part in the insurrection have.

"Trump and Meadows being footloose and fancy-free, playing golf, holding rallies continuing to push the 'big lie,' that has the feel of the rule of law failing at the moment and the legitimacy of the Department of Justice eroding," Kirschner said.

Kirschner added that he is not prepared to state that the DoJ has already made a decision not to "indict any criminal politicians any of the command structure of the insurrection," but reiterated that it feels like the rule of law is "failing" the the legitimacy of the DOJ "eroding" if indictments against Trump and his allies do not arrive.

"So DOJ, how about we step up? The American people are kind of depending on you, our democracy is kind of depending on you," he said.

One of the biggest revelations from Tuesday's hearing arrived at the end, when Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the committee, alleged that Trump tried to make contact with one of the witnesses who was due to testify to the panel.

The witness, who was not identified, did not answer the call and alerted their lawyer. Cheney said the committee then passed on the information to the DoJ, citing allegations of witness tampering.

The panel previously revealed that after Cassidy Hutchinson's damning testimony on June 28, Trump allies attempted to reach out to a witness. The witness was later revealed to be Hutchinson, and the attempts to reach her were allegedly made on behalf of Meadows.

Ben Williamson, a spokesperson for Meadows, previously denied the former White House chief of staff or anyone connected to him tried to intimidate Hutchinson ahead of her testimony.

"No one from Meadows camp, himself or otherwise, ever sought to intimidate or shape her conversations with the committee," Williamson told CNN.

The panel also revealed that Trump had drafted a tweet that specifically told his supporters to arrive early for his January 6 speech and then to "March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!"

The committee said the tweet, which was never sent, showed how Trump and his team were planning for the supporters to march the Capitol on January 6 after his "fight like hell" speech at the Ellipse.

Trump and Meadows have been contacted for comment.

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