Merrick Garland: Missing In Inaction

 

With the release of the Biden classified documents recommendation written by Trumpist appointee Robert Hur, in which partisan shots were taken at President Biden's memory and mental acuity, attention is increasingly being focused on Biden's plodding Attorney General Merrick Garland for not insisting on editing out the subjective, partisan sniping that violated DOJ guidelines. The report cleared Biden of any criminal wrongdoing. 

While it would have been worse had Garland not released the report at all -- triggering MAGA Republican demands for hearings, etc. -- what was released was bad enough. From Poltico's Jonathan Lemire and Sam Stein:

"Biden and his closest advisers believe Hur went well beyond his purview and was gratuitous and misleading in his descriptions, according to those two people, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. And they put part of the blame on Garland, who they say should have demanded edits to Hur’s report, including around the descriptions of Biden’s faltering memory. [snip]

Frustration within the White House at Garland has been growing steadily.

Last year, Biden privately denounced how long the probe into his son was taking, telling aides and outside allies that he believed the stress could send Hunter Biden spiraling back into addiction, according to the same two people. And the elder Biden, the people said, told those confidants that Garland should not have eventually empowered a special counsel to look into his son, believing that he again was caving to outside pressure.

In recent weeks, President Biden has grumbled to aides and advisers that had Garland moved sooner in his investigation into former President Donald Trump’s election interference, a trial may already be underway or even have concluded, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private matters. That trial still could take place before the election and much of the delay is owed not to Garland but to deliberate resistance put up by the former president and his team."  (our emphasis)

That last instance is particularly aggravating. The timid Garland dilly dallied on appointing a Special Counsel for the January 6 insurrection, waiting well after the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack had investigated the matter, and produced a report. His appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith occurred on November 18, 2022, nearly two years after the insurrection. That's also three months after the Merde O'Lardo documents search warrant was executed. Garland has his defenders, as the article documents, but we tend to agree with this view:

“'Garland is far and away Biden’s worst appointee by an order of magnitude,' Robert Kuttner, co-founder of the liberal American Prospect. 'And we all pay the price. If Biden goes down the drain because Garland has mishandled the investigation of Trump and gave Republicans a weapon … then the country pays the price. It’s not just that Biden gets punished for the stupidity of appointing Garland.'”

(photo: Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters)