The Washington Post stated on Monday that the FBI had put off opening an official inquiry into former president Donald Trump’s role in attempts to move the 2020 election for months out of concern that they would come across as partisan. However, the incident doesn’t seem to have greatly prevented prosecutors’ capacity to aim at Trump for federal crimes in the previous 2 years.
According to the Post, which cited multiple reliable sources, top Justice Department and FBI officials originally delayed labeling Trump as a target and regarded as inappropriate a proposal to look into Trump loyalists as part of its investigation right after the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The Post stated that prosecutor J.P. Cooney requested expanding the investigation to look into possible ties between radicals and others close to Trump in February 2021. In accordance to the Post, the officials who first dismissed that suggestion felt it was inappropriate as well as afraid of political risks and breaking from accepted investigation practices.