EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Biggs Accuses DOJ Of Undermining Presidential Clemencies

February 17, 2023

Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs sent a letter Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to explain its decision to re-prosecute a case in which former President Donald Trump already granted clemency.

The Daily Caller first obtained the letter, which focuses on former nursing home owner Philip Esformes. The DOJ charged Esformes in 2016 with healthcare fraud, money laundering and bribery in a multi-count indictment, and in 2019 Esformes was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 2020, Trump commuted Esformes’ sentence to time served, based in part on the recommendations of former U.S. Attorneys General Edwin Meese and Michael Mukasey and former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.

In the letter, Biggs states that during litigation, a federal magistrate found that the Justice Department prosecutors committed misconduct by reviewing over 70 boxes containing information covered by attorney-client privilege and then tried to cover it up. Biggs mentions that former Attorney General John Ashcroft described the DOJ’s behavior as “amongst the most abusive” he had seen.

“For years, the DOJ has unjustly and unlawfully targeted its political opponents,” Biggs told the Caller before sending the letter. “The Philip Esformes case highlights what most Americans already know: Our nation has a two-tier justice system and it does not serve the American people fairly. The DOJ is using the Esformes case as a trial case to set aside all clemencies granted by President Trump. This is a reckless move that is contrary to American history and further indicates how weaponized the DOJ has become.”

The Biden administration has announced its intention to prosecute Esformes for charges on which the jury did not reach final decisions.

moar: https://dailycaller.com/2023/02/17/exclusive-andy-biggs-calls-doj-stop-undermining-presidential-clemencies-philip-esformes/