McGlinchey in the News
Garland extends Trump-era policy
Read Time: 1 minMember Bob Driscoll (Washington) appeared on “On Balance with Leland Vittert” on NewsNation on July 19, 2022. He discussed U.S. Attorney General Garland’s memo regarding sign-off for investigations into political candidates.
Even if you do have independence — and you should, the people doing the investigation — at some point, when something’s going to have a massive political impact, you’re going to at least consult the people up the chain from you. This requires an official sign-off, which is maybe a bureaucratic hurdle, but I think it’s totally appropriate. The whole idea of our government is that it’s accountable to the people. If someone brings an improper prosecution, that administration is going to be punished, and you don’t want the Attorney General to say, ‘I didn’t know about it, that was someone acting on their own.’…
At least Garland is taking responsibility for it. It was no different under Barr, and I don’t think it was any different under the Obama administration and the Bush administration. When you get into election season, the department is always very careful about taking any public-facing action against a candidate without there being good cause and sign-off at the highest levels.
Bob is a former Deputy Attorney General and current Co-Chair of McGlinchey’s Government and Internal Investigations team. Click here to watch the full interview clip.