Resolution to Protect the Independence of the Justice Department and to Make Public the Results of Investigations into the Trump Administration

Remembering that there were investigations into the activities of multiple members of the Trump administration and into activities of the President himself over the last four years;

Recognizing that the results of many of these investigations were either not revealed to the public, were made public in such a severely redacted form that they could not be clearly understood, or were prematurely terminated because of pressure from the President or his accomplices;

Suspicious that those who controlled access to investigative documents had a clear conflict of interest and were often under pressure from the administration to hide access to information or to severely redact politically compromising information;

Concerned that many investigations were brought to a premature conclusion because of pressure on the Justice Department from the political arms of the administration and recognizing that this type of political pressure became more severe as the independence of the Justice Department was eroded by the appointment of compliant officials and the forced resignation and dismissal of officials that sought to uphold professional standards;

Applauding the efforts of the Biden administration to restore the independence of the Justice Department:

The Four Freedoms Democratic Club hereby:

• Calls on President Biden, where possible, to declassify and release appropriately redacted documents pertaining to the investigations of the previous administration; and
• Calls on the both the Biden administration and the Congress to put into place procedures, precedents, rules, and laws that would protect the independence of the Justice Department, making it more difficult for future presidents to exert political pressure on the Justice Department to protect political allies and personal friends or attack personal or political enemies.