The DOJ Needs To Prosecute OAN And Pearson Sharp

     On June 25th, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he would file a lawsuit against the state of Georgia for its new voter suppression law, which, among other things, bans religious groups from giving out food and water in lines, restricts access to mail-in ballots, limits ballot boxes in majority black cities and counties, and purges voters. SB 202 went from three pages to 90 in a day, was passed after only two hours of debate, and became law the same day under a portrait of a slave plantation without a single woman or person of color in the room. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke is leading the suit. Garland also warned states considering similar legislation, which violates the Voting Rights Act as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments, that the DOJ would have no tolerance for what advocates call "Jim Crow 2.0." 

     Another facet of securing the right to vote and a marked departure from Trump DOJ policy is that Garland plans to prioritize prosecuting, rather than actively encourage, threats and harassment of all election officials, from volunteer poll workers to state secretaries and everyone in between.

     A good first step in the latter plan: take action against OAN and its "reporter" Pearson Sharp, be it civil or criminal. In rhetoric repeated by the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Sharp claimed that upwards of "tens of thousands" of people had to be involved in "staging a coup," referring to the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. He stated that they would be guilty of treason, and that the penalty for treason is death. When questioned over this terroristic threat, he doubled down, saying it would be up to the justice system to deal with treason, as if there was any truth to his vile rant.

     This sort of mob rule cannot stand in a democracy. When the Biden-Harris ticket was forced to cancel an event in Texas after Trump supporters tried to run their campaign bus off the road, the drivers and the local authorities who enabled them who sued under the KKK Act, which provides legal recourse for those threatened by political violence in numerous facets of life. The DOJ can civilly prosecute Sharp and OAN under the KKK Act and investigate filing federal charges against Sharp and OAN (if it refuses to fire him). If the Department of Justice wants to bolster democracy and allow elections to proceed without fear, this would send a powerful message.