{"id":1995042,"date":"2023-08-09T05:23:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T09:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/up-for-debate-trump-desantis-and-2024-gop-hopefuls-stance-on-the-justice-department\/"},"modified":"2023-08-09T05:25:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T09:25:01","slug":"up-for-debate-trump-desantis-and-2024-gop-hopefuls-stance-on-the-justice-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/up-for-debate-trump-desantis-and-2024-gop-hopefuls-stance-on-the-justice-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Debate: Trump, DeSantis, and 2024 GOP hopefuls&#8217; views on the Justice Department."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fup-for-debate-trump-desantis-and-2024-gop-hopefuls-stance-on-the-justice-department%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1995042&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The \u200cFirst Republican Presidential Debate: Candidates&#8217; Stance \u200don the Justice Department<\/h2>\n<p>The first Republican presidential debate is fast approaching on \u2064Aug. 23,\u2062 when candidates \u200cwill hope to close the gap on \u200bformer President Donald Trump and separate from the\u200c rest of the pack. In this\u2063 series, Up For Debate, the\u200d Washington Examiner will look at \u2062a key issue or policy every day up until\u200b debate day and where key candidates \u2062stand. Today&#8217;s story \u200bwill examine their stance \u2064on the Justice Department.<\/p>\n<h3>Republican \u200b2024 candidates and their views on\u2064 the DOJ<\/h3>\n<p>Republican 2024 candidates have almost unilaterally used\u200d the term \u201cweaponized\u201d to describe the Department of Justice during\u2062 this election \u2063cycle. \u200cThey \u2063have taken aim at\u2063 the DOJ&#8217;s five-year investigation\u2064 into \u200bPresident Joe Biden&#8217;s \u200dson Hunter Biden,\u200d which \u200cnearly resulted in a &#8220;sweetheart&#8221; plea deal, as many Republicans have described, before the judge in the case \u2063deferred it \u2064out of concerns\u200b about its \u200dunusual\u2063 provisions.<\/p>\n<p>They have pointed to John Durham&#8217;s report, released in\u2062 May, as a shining example of FBI missteps\u2063 during the Trump-Russia collusion era. Some have elevated concerns that the\u2064 DOJ and \u2064FBI labeled parents of students \u201cdomestic terrorists,\u201d discriminated against\u2062 certain traditional Catholics, \u200dor coordinated with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-family-scandals-are-so-much-bigger-than-hunters-hookers-and-burisma-bribery\/\" title=\"Biden family scandals go beyond Hunter's involvement with hookers and Burisma bribery.\">social\u2064 media companies<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-court-order-halts-government-instigated-censorship-by-big-tech\/\" title=\"Court stops government-backed censorship by Big Tech.\">censor protected speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But more than any other issue, all of the \u2062candidates have\u200d been\u200c forced, on multiple\u2064 occasions, to take a position\u200d on the\u200b DOJ\u2019s decision to prosecute the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-30-house-races-will-determine-if-republicans-or-democrats-win-the-majority\/\" title=\"These 30 House Races Will Determine if Republicans or Democrats Win the Majority\">primary front-runner<\/a>, former President Donald Trump. Candidates have discovered Trump and \u2062the\u2063 DOJ are\u200b inextricably tied and \u200dthat they cannot speak about the department without addressing special \u2063counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s dual cases against \u200cTrump, as well as the state prosecution in New\u200d York\u200c and one anticipated in Georgia.<\/p>\n<h3>Donald Trump&#8217;s\u2062 stance\u2062 on the DOJ<\/h3>\n<p>Trump has come out swinging on\u200b a \u200dnear daily basis against the DOJ, using his propensity for\u2063 nicknames to speak often about the &#8220;Department of Injustice&#8221; and &#8220;Deranged Jack Smith.&#8221;\u2064 He\u2064 has pleaded\u200d not guilty to charges in both of \u200cSmith&#8217;s criminal cases against him, the \u200bFlorida case related to classified documents \u2063and the\u2063 Washington \u2063case related \u200bto the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has vowed to fire Smith, but since 2016, he has more \u2062broadly popularized the\u2062 idea of rooting out the &#8220;deep state.&#8221; At \u200dhis first 2024 \u2064rally\u200d in Waco, Texas, \u2063he \u200bdeclared, &#8220;Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In October 2020, Trump signed an executive order on &#8220;Schedule F,&#8221; which essentially recategorized\u2063 thousands of federal employees to at-will\u2064 status, stripping them\u200b of\u2063 certain job \u200dprotections\u2064 and making them easier to terminate. \u200cThe former\u2063 president plans to revive this \u2062order \u2063if reelected, as well as remove the \u200c&#8221;top layers&#8221;\u200d of the DOJ and FBI, Axios reported last year.<\/p>\n<p>Trump&#8217;s GOP critics will say, however, that during his four years in charge, he failed to filter\u200c out those deeply embedded in the \u200bgovernment who then allegedly weaponized it. Some of those employees, for instance, participated in impeaching him in 2019 over the \u200bUkraine phone call. Trump appointed FBI Director Christopher \u2064Wray, which he \u2063now says was\u2064 &#8220;probably&#8221; a mistake. When\u200b the then-president sought to use\u2063 the power of the DOJ to press states about the 2020 election results, he relied on Jeffrey Clark after his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/up-for-debate-trump-desantis-and-2024-gop-hopefuls-stance-on-the-justice-department\/\" title=\"Debate: Trump, DeSantis, and 2024 GOP hopefuls' views on the Justice Department.\">higher-ranking officials refused<\/a> to partake. Clark is named as a co-conspirator in one of Smith&#8217;s indictments of Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of\u2062 the concerns with politicization at the \u200cDOJ, one of\u2063 Trump&#8217;s top \u200blegislative\u2064 accomplishments was passing the First Step Act,\u2062 a bipartisan\u200b but controversial bill aimed at cutting down unnecessary jail time and \u2064recidivism in prisons. Some Republicans, including Trump&#8217;s leading opponent, have criticized \u200cit as \u2063a\u200c &#8220;jailbreak bill&#8221; and vowed \u200dto repeal or\u200b scale it back.<\/p>\n<h3>Other candidates&#8217; views on \u200dthe DOJ<\/h3>\n<p>Ron DeSantis, the Florida\u200d governor who is trailing Trump in a\u2062 distant second place in most\u200b polls, served in\u200c Congress and was a member of the House\u2063 Judiciary Committee. At the time,\u200d he \u2064railed against then-President Barack Obama&#8217;s perceived executive overreach\u200c and led the Faithful Execution of \u200cthe Law\u2063 Act, \u200cwhich passed the House in 2014 and would have required the \u200cattorney general to report\u2063 to Congress any time a federal officer established a policy that broke with existing laws.\u200c In 2017, he backed\u200b Trump during Robert Mueller&#8217;s investigation, introducing \u200ban amendment that would have\u2064 curbed funding \u200cfor it. He criticized \u2062it at the time as a &#8220;fishing expedition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tim Scott, a sitting South Carolina\u200c senator,\u2064 has promoted \u200doptimism on the campaign trail, but during a\u2062 visit to Iowa at the end of July, he\u2063 joined in \u200cthe \u2062indictment discourse and said in response to the\u200d superseding charges leveled against Trump in Florida, \u201cAt the end of the day, \u200bwhat we all should be very \u200dconcerned about is the weaponization of [the] \u2062Department of Justice.\u201d Scott added, \u201cWe should be very careful\u200d on how we use this power against political opponents.\u200b That is not\u2064 good for the soul \u2064of our country. We need Lady\u200d Justice\u2063 to wear a blindfold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nikki Haley, former governor of South\u2064 Carolina and\u200b U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has questioned the\u200d DOJ&#8217;s investigation into \u200cHunter Biden. During\u2062 a radio interview in May, she proposed the DOJ put the\u200c &#8220;same energy&#8221; it did into the\u2063 Trump-Russia \u2063inquiry into investigating\u2062 the Biden family. \u200cHaley has also tapped \u200binto the fatigue some voters have \u2062over Trump&#8217;s legal woes by strategically condemning \u2064the indictments \u200dagainst Trump, which are \u200doverwhelmingly \u200dunpopular among Republican\u200c voters, as &#8220;drama&#8221; that the\u200b country must move on from.<\/p>\n<p>Vivek Ramaswamy, \u200ca biotech entrepreneur, set himself apart on the topic of the DOJ by vowing to pardon Trump if elected and pushing his fellow \u2062candidates to agree to do the same. \u200bHe has also pledged more broadly to pardon those convicted \u200c&#8221;as\u200d part of \u200ca politicized prosecution,&#8221; \u2062including nonviolent Jan. 6\u200d defendants. \u2063Ramaswamy has called for a complete shutdown\u200d of the FBI, condemning the current federal &#8220;police state&#8221; as\u2064 corrupt and vowing to replace the\u2063 bureau with a &#8220;new \u200bapparatus \u2062built from scratch that actually respects the Constitution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Other candidates, \u200bsuch as\u2062 Mike Pence and \u2063Chris\u2063 Christie, \u2062have\u2063 also expressed \u2062their views on\u2063 the \u2062DOJ and its investigations.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the \u200ccandidates&#8217; stance on the Justice Department varies, with\u2063 some calling for\u200d reform, others criticizing its actions, and a few proposing drastic changes. The \u200dupcoming debate will provide a platform for them \u200bto further discuss their positions and engage with each\u2064 other\u2064 on this \u200cimportant issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The upcoming Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23 is crucial for candidates to catch up with ex-President Donald Trump and stand out from the competition. In the lead-up to the debate, the Washington Examiner will analyze a significant issue or policy each day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1995043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1995042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1995043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1995042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1995042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}