By james art 
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hassan criticized President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland on Saturday for not putting former President Trump on trial before the 2024 presidential election.
In a scathing post on X over the weekend, Hassan said he would never forgive Biden and Garland for allowing Trump’s trial on charges stemming from Jan. 6 to take place after Election Day — while dismissing concerns about an armed justice system.
“No matter who wins or loses on Tuesday, I will never stop being mad at Joe Biden and Merrick Garland for allowing Trump to stand before the electorate this week without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom for his crimes on and before January 6th,” he wrote.
“Stunning incompetence, prudence, cowardice and more at the top of the Democratic Party. They’ll say it was to try to keep faith in an impartial Justice Department, but even after giving Trump a pass, Democrats and Biden’s Justice Department are still being accused of running a “witch hunt” against Trump and in “weaponizing” the justice system against him. So what was gained?” he added.
After months of speculation about the trial date of special counsel Jack Smith’s election case against Trump, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in D.C. announced in September that the trial would not begin before the presidential election, setting deadlines for responses and documents from the federal prosecutors and Trump’s legal team for Nov. 7 — two days after Election Day.
The case concerns Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Democrats had hoped for an earlier trial date, believing it would hurt Trump politically and give Kamala Harris a huge advantage in an extremely tight race.
Trump was indicted on four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings, obstruction and attempted obstruction of official proceedings, and conspiracy against rights in August 2023. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith and has called the case a “witch hunt.”
At the time, Democrats argued that the charges pointed to a “month-long criminal conspiracy led by the former president to oppose democracy.”
But after the Supreme Court ruled that the president was immune from prosecution for official acts, Smith had to file another charge against Trump, revising the charges in an attempt to navigate the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The new indictment retained the previous criminal charges but narrowed and reworded the charges against Trump following a Supreme Court ruling that granted broad immunity to former presidents.
Smith alleges that Trump pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes, in addition to rigging fake voters in key states that went to President Biden and to certify Trump’s election victory.
Charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings, obstruction and attempted obstruction of official proceedings, and conspiracy against rights remain.
Trump also pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment.
Trump also faces criminal charges in a separate federal case brought by Smith over classified documents, as well as charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and a 34-count criminal conviction in Manhattan Criminal Court.
He was also convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records in a New York courtroom in May.
Trump maintains his innocence, while congressional Republicans vow to crack down on the Justice Department’s alleged weaponization.