NBC News: Biden hopes to avoid divisive investigations of Trump, "just wants to move on" and prefers unity; Plans to not interfere with the DOJ

[Deleted member 31923]

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden has privately told advisers that he doesn't want his presidency to be consumed by investigations of his predecessor, according to five people familiar with the discussions, despite pressure from some Democrats who want inquiries into President Donald Trump, his policies and members of his administration.

Biden has raised concerns that investigations would further divide a country he is trying to unite and risk making every day of his presidency about Trump, said the sources, who spoke on background to offer details of private conversations.

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They said he has specifically told advisers that he is wary of federal tax investigations of Trump or of challenging any orders Trump may issue granting immunity to members of his staff before he leaves office. One adviser said Biden has made it clear that he "just wants to move on."

Another Biden adviser said, "He's going to be more oriented toward fixing the problems and moving forward than prosecuting them."

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Any decisions by Biden's Justice Department regarding Trump, his staff, his associates, his business or his policies wouldn't affect investigations by state officials, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who has fought to obtain Trump's tax returns.

"His overarching view is that we need to move the country forward," an adviser said. "But the most important thing on this is that he will not interfere with his Justice Department and not politicize his Justice Department."

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Biden hopes to avoid divisive Trump investigations, preferring unity

Biden has told aides that he's concerned that investigations would divide the country but that he would leave decisions up to an independent Justice Department.

www.nbcnews.com

This is disappointing if this comes true. And it may bite Biden in the butt if his lack of action allows Trump to run for reelection in 2024 and maybe beat him. But as the article mentions, Biden's investigations or lack of them do not affect state investigations, and it seems like New York state if further along than anyone towards prosecuting Trump and maybe his family too. Your thoughts?

Edit: some important context on the article.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Fuck that, throw him under the prison.

 

[Psittacus]

Depressingly naive

 

[Browser]

Sure lets not bring any consequences to 4 years of abuse for the position of POTUS. That will show the next guy they can push it further.

 

[Pwnz]

Let the state courts eat him though in the sidelines.

 

[show me your skeleton]

of fucking course.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Pretty sure he's just positioning himself as above the fray while letting the DOJ and the states do what they want.

But there's nothing America hates more than confronting and reckoning with its failures, so.

 

[RadzPrower]

Honestly, as long as other cases can be brought against him, I say let the federal government stay out of it. He's likely going to have enough coming his way without diverting attention from more pressing national issues.

 

[Deleted member 7082]

You aren't protecting America from another psychopathic demagogue if you shield them from consequences after one wreaks havoc.

 

[Potterson]

Sad but obvious it was gonna happen.

Trumpsters would create even more chaos lasting till 2024.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Sure, he should personally avoid them if he wants.

Let the house and DOJ investigate the shit out of him tho

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Biden should let New York State handle it. Trying to bring federal charges down on an exiting president would be absolutely devastating to the country's already shredded sense of stability.

Let NY State crush him with state charges. This was always the plan.

 

[Deleted member 83599]

Reposting from PoliERA:

One thing we've learned from the Bill Barr DoJ is that U.S. attorneys value their independence and aren't easily coaxed into investigating or not investigating things due to pressure from above.

The U.S. attorneys are going to do their thing, and I don't anticipate that Biden or his AG will interfere, even if they might want to.

 

[BossAttack]

This motherfucker.

 

[BWoog]

If you let Trump get away with it, the ramifications simply cannot be measured.

 

[HanzSnubSnub]

Honestly seems like the high road approach, which isn't a bad thing. As someone who is sick of hearing about Trump, that's good news.

Hopefully the states themselves can prosecute if they choose.

 

[jayu26]

Letting Trump get away with his behaviour is going to sent rest of republicans a message that they can do whatever the fuck they want.

 

[Trey]

Eh. Not too much the WH can do without the Senate. DOJ and FBI are independent of the executive, as are the state investigations. There's no real benefit from a Biden Administration pushing something, as any serious investigations are going to come regardless of his input.

 

[Deleted member 8579]

5D Chess to make Trump concede.

 

[Shadybiz]

This is one of those things that's "nice to say."

And the President doesn't order investigations, no matter how much Trump thinks he does.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

fool

 

[Ocean Bones]

Its true tho. If Biden opens up investigations on Trump, that'll be all that gets done in his probably 1 term.

At the same time, you can't just let Trump walk away. It'll only make the next crazy president more dangerous.

 

[jon bones]

Smart.

Leave this to state AGs and work on fixing problems for Americans. This is a loser politically and a waste of his first term.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

Clever from him. Wait until Trump wins the primaries and THEN get his ass in jail!

 

[klonere]

This is a positive. Just like post-2008 crash, the country and world needs to look forward, not back. Clearly Biden believes in second chances, and I do too.

 

[Sulik2]

Fuck this. The GOP knows they can break the law with impunity because of shit like this.

 

[Malleymal]

Forget that... if he is not held accountable, then the next trump will have nothing to lose while ruining the country.

 

[yogurt]

State AGs, such as those in New York, will still pursue Trump.

And they arguably have a better case for doing so.

 

[Dwebble]

Good.

The President should not be threatening to lock up his predecessors. Let NY State take this, and don't get dragged into the mire.

 

[Royalan]

We're currently living in the putrid shithole ushered in by the "forgiveness" of the '08 financial crises.

This is silly.

 

[Mudcrab]

I mean I get it he doesn't want his presidency to be dominated by Trump too.

Let the state AGs have at it

 

[Psittacus]

Letting Trump get away with his behaviour is going to sent rest of republicans a message that they can do whatever the fuck they want.

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They already got the message loud and clear after the Civil War... and after Nixon... and after GWB... and after Obama...

How many times does the US have to go through this before its learns its damn lesson?

 

[greepoman]

IMO going after Trump himself is useless cause even with an air tight case he can probably hold it off for the better part of a decade through appeals.

Go after Trump's sources of money. Cut off anything you can. Put pressure on companies not to bail him out behind the scenes. That's how you actually hurt Trump.

 

[julian]

I'm not going to be upset about this unless he actually prevents investigations from going forward. He is saying he won't interfere with others and doesn't want to make it his focus. That doesn't mean Trumps gets off scot free.

 

[The Llama]

It's the smart move... just let the states (mostly, New York) investigate him.

 

[SGRX]

Fuck forgiveness. Everyone that broke the law should be punished accordingly,

 

[Titanpaul]

Why the outrage here? Do we really want Biden to scream "lock him up?"

There's people that will investigate and potentially charge.

You don't want a president to do that.

 

[Voyager]

Edit:
Finally had time to read the article. This isn't what the headline makes it sound like. Biden doesn't want to dictate what the DOJ investigates, and he shouldn't. Doesn't sound like will interfere if they decide to go after Trump.

 

[Dennis8K]

So Biden is going to pardon him for any wrongdoings.

 

[El_TigroX]

Let Congress and the reformed Justice Department handle that... the presidency should focus on the country.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

This won't be a popular statement on this board, but I think this is the right move for Biden's administration. Any step we can take to reduce partisan bullshit at the federal level needs to happen. Further polarization and demonization of the "other party" is untenable for our democracy at this point.

State investigations can, and should, do their thing. But it is, indeed, time to move on from Trump and not boost his signal or give the opposing side the ability to claim that another "witch hunt", as they will call it, is underway.

The new administration needs to continue to grow its constituency rather than supercharge the outrage of 70 million people that voted against them. Let's face it, Trump is a slippery legal target and you risk too much by failing to convict him after launching more investigations.

 

[mentallyinept]

This seems consistent from his campaign.

1. He's not going to pardon Trump.
2. He's not going to direct anyone to investigate anything directly, DoJ will go back to full autonomy.
3. He won't stand in the way of any investigations that do come forward.

This is how it should work.

*That said*, if he tells the DoJ to *not* investigate things or stops any in progress, that's a problem.

 

[Deleted member 19293]

Prosecute the fucking problem. Biden doesn't need to investigate him, but he might as well turn Doug Jones loose on him.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

🤡

 

[Browser]

The problem here is the optics. Biden is saying "the states are going after him for his actions, but the federal govt will not go after an ex president for nothing he did during the presidency"

Its like they get cart blanche when they leave the office, as long as they don't do anything the states can go after him for. That is dangerous. Biden needs to position himself to keep some semblance of accountability to the position of POTUS, regardless who is there.

 

[My Blue Heaven]

It is actually a political loser for Biden to pursue an investigation that is likely to go nowhere when he can let NY and other state lawmakers do the work for him essentially.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Sure, he should personally avoid them if he wants.

Let the house and DOJ investigate the shit out of him tho

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Exactly. I think people are reading too much into this. There's a difference between "being consumed by" investigations and letting the DOJ and state justice departments run their investigations unimpeded

 

[Dyle]

He's not saying "no we can't do it" he's saying "I'm staying out of it, that's the AG's job"

It's the correct position. To do otherwise will only galvanize opposition to him and take precious air away from the real issues

 

[The Turbanator]

50% chance Biden straight up pardons Trump of whatever he's accused of.

Edit: Found out Biden said he wouldn't, surprisingly. That's... a relief?

 

[Volimar]

After months, no, years of protests, how can he still not understand that you can't heal if there's no justice?