Merrick Garland has destroyed his credibility
Washington Examiner
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Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Sept. 20 congressional testimony was disgracefully evasive and misleading. He merits no confidence in leading the Justice Department. He inhibits justice and the rule of law.
Garland said he can’t even “recollect” whether he “had personal contact” with anyone at the FBI about the investigation into presidential son Hunter Biden. Really? That’s like a coach saying he can’t recollect if he spoke to his quarterback before the most consequential play in a Super Bowl. It is simply not believable.
MERRICK GARLAND HEARING: SIX TAKEAWAYS ON HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATION
Garland repeatedly pawned off to underlings the responsibility for controversial decisions. He had no idea why U.S. Attorney David Weiss let statutes of limitations expire on major allegations against Hunter Biden. He did the Pilate-washing-hands thing when questioned about an armed FBI raid on the child-filled House of a peaceful pro-life protester, saying it was a decision made locally that he still, a year later, won’t denounce. Garland feigned ignorance of basic details about FBI observational presence at the 2021 Capitol riot.
Back to the investigation into Hunter Biden, Garland tried to portray Weiss as a product of the orbit of former President Donald Trump, conveniently forgetting that Weiss was first appointed to “interim” status as U.S. attorney by former President Barack Obama and that he was recommended to Trump for the permanent role by Delaware’s two Democratic senators. He also provided ludicrous, circular logic to deny that Weiss had been “turned down” in requests to expand the investigation to other jurisdictions but said the other jurisdictions merely “refused to partner” with him, likewise with his nonexplanation about why Weiss did not need “special counsel” authority on July 10 but suddenly was obliged to become a special counsel on Aug. 11.
Garland also pretended ignorance about widely reported, undeniable bank records showing foreign money flowed to Biden family members. “I have left these matters to Mr. Weiss,” he again demurred.
Garland’s inartful dodger routine again showed when he evaded a simple yes-or-no question about whether “traditional Catholics are violent extremists.” The question was based on a memo from the FBI Richmond field office saying traditional Catholic groups should be targeted for investigation as possible launching pads for violence. For months, Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray said the memo was a mistake and the product only of the one office, but unredacted memos have since shown the attention was coordinated with the Los Angeles and Portland field offices too.
Rather than answer the question, Garland dodged clumsily by saying his family’s history — they fled the Holocaust — made it impossible for him to be a religious bigot. The proper answer to the question was, “No, traditional Catholicism doesn’t breed violent extremism — and, by the way, now that we know other offices joined in targeting Catholic groups, I am ensuring that everyone involved is disciplined, and I will make public the results of those disciplinary efforts.”
When you are the nation’s top law enforcement official testifying before the people’s elected representatives, your job is twofold. First, you must know and prepare for questions about the top controversies of the day to provide the most accurate and thorough answers possible. Second, you should take responsibility for the workings of your department and be willing to make amends for its mistakes.
Garland, instead, adopts a pose of doe-eyed ignorance while refusing to take responsibility for anything.
Garland’s worthless testimony is, however, the least of his sins. Under his direction, the Justice Department’s leftward politicization has been overwhelming. Again and again, the department targets conservative groups but not liberal ones. It harasses parents who complain about woke school policies but not school officials who lie about assaults against students. It harasses pro-lifers and traditional or orthodox Catholics but somehow fails to find perpetrators of hundreds of acts of vandalism and violence committed against those groups. And it instructs federal marshals not to enforce laws against protesting at the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices, then lies about those instructions.
Merrick Garland’s Justice Department is an abusive menace to liberty. Its rot starts at the top.