The Vivek Ramaswamy campaign filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Request) to ascertain whether the White House spoke to Attorney General Merrick Garland or Special Counsel Jack Smith ahead of announcing the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
After President Joe Biden claimed Friday that he had not spoken with Garland or had any role in the Trump indictment, the Vivek campaign apparently believes he is bluffing.
President Joe Biden (L) and Attorney General Merrick Garland walk into the East Room for the Public Safety Officer Medals of Valor ceremony at the White House on May 16, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“My campaign just filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demand to uncover *exactly* what the White House communicated to Merrick Garland & Jack Smith about the unprecedented indictment of a former U.S. President & Biden’s disfavored opponent in this election,” Ramaswamy posted on Twitter. “Every American deserves to know.”
On Friday, the Justice Department released the 49-page Trump indictment, detailing allegations that he and an aide, Waltine (“Walt”) Nauta, conspired to hide boxes containing classified documents, including sensitive national security secrets.
In the past, Joe Biden claimed he never instructed the DOJ to prosecute anyone, a claim that Breitbart News fact checked as false since he said that those who defy subpoenas from the January 6 Committee should be prosecuted. Conservative radio host Mark Levin also argued that the White House would have had to sign off on a request by the National Archives to refer a dispute with Trump to the DOJ.
This is not the first time Ramaswamy aggressively defended Trump from the weaponization of Biden’s DOJ, while other GOP candidates remain largely quiet about the charges.
“I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country,” he said. “It would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump weren’t in the race, but I stand for principles over politics.”
WATCH — Vivek Ramaswamy: I Would Pardon Trump if Elected:
Trump’s indictment, the second in two months after a state court indictment in Manhattan in March, includes 38 counts of alleged crimes, along with 31 separate counts of alleged willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act.
Ramaswamy doubled down on his position Sunday on CNN. “Just on principle, do you think it would be a mistake for the Republican Party to nominate somebody who is facing serious federal criminal charges?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked.
“You have a federal administrative state, the police arm of that state is for the first time in U.S. history, not only indicting a former president, but indicting currently a lead candidate against the U.S. president,” Ramaswamy argued.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.