Republican presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy announced his campaign has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demand upon the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to a June 12 Tweet.
Former President Donald Trump’s indictment relating to his alleged mishandling of classified documents was unsealed Friday. He is to be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday. Ramaswamy’s request asks for any records held by the DOJ in relation to Trump’s indictment. He calls out U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ Special Council Jack Smith.
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. Every American… pic.twitter.com/bnwmn6jGYZ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 12, 2023
The “DOJ is being politicized and weaponized against the political opponents of the sitting President of the United States. The existence, timing, and content of the indictment all necessitate both this request, and, one would hope, a completely open and forthright response,” the FOIA request reads.
The presidential candidate previously criticized the DOJ, accusing them of fostering two separate “tiers of justice.” (RELATED: ‘For Goodness Sake!’: Jim Jordan Breaks Down Major ‘Flaw’ In Argument Against Trump)
“We can’t have two tiers of justice: one for Trump, another for Biden. One for Assange, another for Manning. One for BLM/Antifa, another for peaceful protesters on Jan 6,” Ramaswamy tweeted June 8. “This is an affront to every citizen: we cannot devolve into a banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents. It’s hypocritical for the DOJ to selectively prosecute Trump but not Biden. ”
Ramaswamy also declared that if elected, he will pardon the former president. “Reading that indictment and looking at the selective omissions of both fact and law, I’m even more convinced that a pardon is the right answer here,” he said during a recent interview with CNN, calling the indictment “deeply politicized.”
Ramaswamy called the indictment “not the right answer for our nation,” despite saying his race would be easier if Trump were eliminated from the running.