Turley: Majority Seeing Trump Indictment as Politically Motivated, Election Interference Is ‘Bad News’ for DOJ

Legal scholar Jonathan Turley said Sunday a Harvard/Harris poll showing a majority of Americans believe Trump’s indictment is politically motivated and election interference is “bad news” for Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department.

Turley wrote in a piece published on his website:

A Harvard/Harris poll is bad news for Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department. The poll shows that 55% of Americans believe Trump’s indictment is politically motivated and 56% believe that it constitutes election interference. The poll captures the level of distrust for the Justice Department and further demonstrates what I described yesterday as the failure of Merrick Garland at the midpoint of his tenure as Attorney General.

The view of the case appears to be worsening. Now there is less than a majority viewing the indictment as well-founded and justified. The poll shows that 83% of Republicans and 55% of Independents view the indictment as a political exercise. Not only do 56 percent view it as election interference but only 44 percent see it as “the fair application of the law.”

https://twitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/1670411255478140931?s=20

Turley also called the poll “bad news” for Biden, since some 65 percent believe Biden “mishandled” classified material while an overwhelming 72 percent believe Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information related to her setting up a private server in her home.

Turley also said the Justice Department and the media appear to have “lost the room” with the American people, and are “primarily appealing to Democrats who (at 80%) support the indictment.”

Turley wrote the poor perception of the indictment “also means that this case could conceivably never see a jury unless Special Counsel Jack Smith succeeds in pushing for a speedy trial before the election.”

He also suggested Biden consider a pledge to commute any sentence in advance.

“A majority of the public now supports a pardon for Trump if he is convicted. With these polls, the pressure of other Republican candidates to pledge a pardon is likely to increase. Indeed, as suggested in another column, Biden may want to consider a pledge to commute any sentence to try to defang this building election issue,” he said

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