Confirmation hearings for Biden's Attorney General pick, DC Appeals COurt Chief Justice Merrick Garland, begin this week, and Garland's opening statement is sure to cause lots of Republican wailing gnashing of teeth.
Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, is pledging he’ll take the lead in prosecuting participants in the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government,” Garland said in an opening statement prepared for his confirmation hearing on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Garland also signaled he’ll make decisions independently from Biden. “The president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer -- not for any individual, but for the people of the United States,” he said in the brief prepared testimony of less than three pages.
Former President Donald Trump openly pressed his attorneys general, Jeff Sessions and William Barr, to protect him and his associates from prosecution and to go after his political enemies. Biden has said he’ll let his attorney general make the tough calls on touchy matters -- including pending investigations of his son, Hunter Biden, and inquiries touching on Trump.
“One of the most serious pieces of damage done by the last administration was the politicizing of the Justice Department,” Biden said at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee on Feb. 16. “Their prosecutorial decisions will be left to the Justice Department, not me.”
In the testimony released Saturday night, Garland indicated that, if confirmed, he’ll seek to restore policies and practices the department developed before the Trump administration, including those that the nominee said protect the agency “from partisan influence in law enforcement investigations,” those that “strictly regulate” communications with the White House and those that respect the professionalism of career employees.
Just getting a hearing for the cabinet post will be vindication for Garland almost five years after Senate Republicans blocked consideration of his nomination to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama. This time, Garland has bipartisan support and is expected to be confirmed.
The Jan. 6 insurrection has only added to a roster of politically charged issues that Garland will be asked about when he finally has his confirmation hearing.
Garland made no reference in the testimony to calls for him to consider criminal charges against Trump, a possibility that has been advanced not only by Democrats but also by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
After joining most Republicans in blocking the former president’s conviction in his second impeachment trial this month, McConnell took to the Senate floor to denounce Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the riot and pointedly added that former presidents can be subject to criminal and civil litigation. Trump “didn’t get away with anything yet -- yet,” he said.
McConnell would love to see Trump prosecuted by the Justice Department, as he would suddenly have all the cover in the world to pretend he never said anything about Trump facing justice and to attack the "partisan witch hunt" along with the rest of the GOP. In fact, all the Republicans would forget they said that Trump should face justice, and they'll all get away with it when it happens.
Luckily, Merrick Garland looks like he'll do that job that's required, not just the job to show up for, and yes, he'll be confirmed easily in the end.
And then, well, I'm still not confident of Trump indictments, but if anyone will do it, it's Garland.
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