The Department of Justice has confirmed a plan that will make it easier to prosecute corrupt politicians.
Under plans currently being drawn up, the DOJ would be able indict members of Congress without approval from lawyers from its Public Integrity Section, known as PIN.
The plans were first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by a DOJ official.
The Post explains:
Under the proposal, investigators and prosecutors would also not be required to consult with the section’s attorneys during key steps of probes into public officials, altering a long-standing provision in the Justice Department’s manual that outlines how investigations of elected officials should be conducted.
If adopted, the changes would remove a layer of review intended to ensure that cases against public officials are legally sound and not politically motivated.
Career prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section guided and signed off on the criminal investigations into alleged corruption by New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) and former Democratic senator Bob Menendez.
A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the proposal and said that no final decisions have been made. The three people familiar with the proposal spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals.
According to a DOJ spokesperson, the main issues lies with the power afforded to PIN, which has already shrunk significantly from 30 prosecutors under the Biden regime to just five under Trump.
“The point of the review is to ensure that equal responsibility is held in the field at U.S. Attorney’s Offices as opposed to centralizing all authority in PIN,” they explained.
PIN was created in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal with the goal of reinforcing DOJ’s credibility in policing official misconduct.
According to the Justice Department’s guidelines, prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section must give formal approval—not just input—before charges can be filed against lawmakers in cases tied to their official roles or campaign conduct.
Nonetheless, the ultimate decision to proceed with an indictment rests with the attorney general.
If implemented, the changes could make it easier for the DOJ to prosecute corrupt politicians including California Senator Adam Schiff and former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, both of whom commited an array of crimes in their failed campaign agaisnt President Trump.
