Hawkeye Reporter

Internal FBI emails obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and shared with the New York Post indicate that Department of Justice officials discussed possible new criminal charges against former President Donald Trump in relation to his involvement with the so-called J6 prisoner choir. The emails, dated 2023, show that prosecutors and agents referenced a Forbes.com article titled “Trump Collaborates On Song With Jan. 6 Defendants” as they considered next steps.

In one email sent on March 8, 2023, prosecutor JP Cooney wrote to colleagues: “Can we do some work to nail down Trump’s role in this,” referencing Trump’s recording of the Pledge of Allegiance at Mar-a-Lago and the involvement of Kash Patel and Ed Henry. Cooney continued, “The profits are routed to an LLC run by Henry, and proceeds are intended for families of incarcerated J6 defendants — but there is apparently a vetting process that excludes families of defendants who assaulted police officers. I asked Ahmed [likely prosecutor Ahmed Baset, who was fired earlier this month] to preserve this last night. I’ll talk to Maria/Erin and Julia about doing some follow up here to nail down Trump’s role.”

Cooney also suggested beginning a legal process related to Ed Henry’s LLC. His email was distributed among eight DOJ staff members and FBI agents, including Special Agent Walter Giardina. Giardina replied two days later: “Esther and I are working on this today. We’re going to put together our findings at 2 and get something to you shortly after that.”

Giardina has been previously involved in several high-profile investigations connected to Trump or his associates, including Operation Crossfire Hurricane, the Mueller investigation, cases involving Dan Scavino and Roger Stone, as well as the Hillary Clinton emails case. According to Grassley, Giardina received the Steele Dossier and asserted its contents were corroborated as true. He also reportedly wiped his government laptop outside established protocol while working for Special Counsel Mueller.

Whistleblowers have informed Grassley that Giardina expressed intent to investigate Trump regardless of evidence due to personal hostility toward him.

Grassley described these actions as an example of federal law enforcement being used against political opponents: “Instead of focusing on DOJ and FBI’s core law enforcement responsibilities,” Grassley told The Post, “partisan prosecutors and agents were surfing the web to find any shred of information they could use to spin another baseless case against Trump. Their actions are a disservice to Americans, who pay their salaries and depend on DOJ and FBI to keep them safe…”