Former U.S. Attorney from Minnesota Tom Heffelfingertold WCCO that time is of the essence now that Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special prosecutor to determine if charges should be filed against former President Donald Trump.
Garland named a special counsel on Friday to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
"The key word is what he used to start out his comments, and that's independence," Heffelfinger said. "And the Attorney General of the United States can't be independent investigating a candidate for the presidency, such as Mr. Trump is now, while at the same time representing as the Attorney General the sitting president who's expressed an interest in running again. So he needed to do something to enhance the independence of this investigation."
Heffelfinger, speaking to WCCO's Chad Hartman, says the news likely surprised the Trump camp.
“Up until today they could have hoped that the silence from Washington meant that Washington was dropping it,” Heffelfinger says. “I think the appointment of a special prosecutor makes it clear that the Department of Justice is not dropping this, and in fact they are adopting a strategy that will result in a relatively speedy decision.”
Heffelfinger says he expects a decision on possible charges within 16-18 months.
“If I were advising him based on my experience in and out of government, I would urge him to make that decision as quickly as possible, well before the height of the 2024 political season,” Heffilfinger tells WCCO.
Garland said Friday that Trump’s announcement of his presidential candidacy and President Joe Biden’s likely 2024 run were factors in his decision to appoint Jack Smith, a veteran prosecutor, to be the special counsel. Garland said the appointment would allow prosecutors to continue their work “indisputably guided” only by the facts and the law.
“The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public’s interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said from the Justice Department’s podium. “Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”
Though the appointment installs a new supervisor atop the probes — both of which are expected to accelerate now that the midterm elections are over — the special counsel will still report to Garland, who has ultimate say of whether to bring charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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