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Merrick Garland's Job Is to Root Out Trump-Era Corruption at DOJ. He's Failing.
It was quite the week for Merrick Garland: On Monday, the department took a position in a pending legal case that was so controversial that many liberals are now openly asking whether he is up to the task of running the Justice Department at this unique moment in the department’s history. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the department, under Garland’s predecessors during the Trump administration, had taken the highly unusual step of subpoenaing phone records for two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee—along with aides and family members, including at least one minor—as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive pursuit of anti-Trump leaks. That revelation prompted outrage among Democrats on Friday as well as questions about why Garland is not being more forthcoming with information about what exactly happened.
At the time of this writing, the story exists in the classic, precarious state of a burgeoning Washington scandal—things are clear enough to make people angry but vague enough to raise legitimate questions about how bad this was, and about whether we know the material details or there are other proverbial shoes to drop. On Friday, Politico reported that William Barr—who, according to the initial Times story, had “revived” the “languishing leak investigations” after he succeeded Jeff Sessions as Trump’s attorney general—was “not aware of any congressman’s records being sought in a leak case.” The Justice Department’s inspector general has already opened an investigation at the request of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Senate Democrats are threatening subpoenas to compel testimony from Sessions and Barr, though that avenue may be foreclosed given the tie in numbers between Democrats and Republicans in the various committees of potential jurisdiction.
This would be a remarkable set of circumstances under any administration, but as usual, that it was happening during the Trump administration makes it even worse. The Trump DOJ’s aggressive efforts targeting Democratic members of Congress appear to have occurred at the same time that the Justice Department was fighting a congressional subpoena for Trump’s personal financial records, to say nothing of the administration stonewalling during the House’s first impeachment and the department openly flouting congressional oversight throughout Trump’s term. Rarely do we get such a stark example of the asymmetry of power between the two branches—a problem that has gotten worse across administrations of both parties.
It remains to be seen how much of a headache this will prove to be for Garland himself, but it does underscore the peculiar and ongoing liminal state in which the department exists. The Times reported that four department officials with varying levels of involvement “are still at the Justice Department” and that “[t]heir continued presence and leadership roles would seem to ensure that Mr. Biden’s appointees, including [Garland], would have a full understanding of the investigations.” ...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/merrick-garland-doj-corrupt-trump-subpoenas.html
At the time of this writing, the story exists in the classic, precarious state of a burgeoning Washington scandal—things are clear enough to make people angry but vague enough to raise legitimate questions about how bad this was, and about whether we know the material details or there are other proverbial shoes to drop. On Friday, Politico reported that William Barr—who, according to the initial Times story, had “revived” the “languishing leak investigations” after he succeeded Jeff Sessions as Trump’s attorney general—was “not aware of any congressman’s records being sought in a leak case.” The Justice Department’s inspector general has already opened an investigation at the request of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Senate Democrats are threatening subpoenas to compel testimony from Sessions and Barr, though that avenue may be foreclosed given the tie in numbers between Democrats and Republicans in the various committees of potential jurisdiction.
This would be a remarkable set of circumstances under any administration, but as usual, that it was happening during the Trump administration makes it even worse. The Trump DOJ’s aggressive efforts targeting Democratic members of Congress appear to have occurred at the same time that the Justice Department was fighting a congressional subpoena for Trump’s personal financial records, to say nothing of the administration stonewalling during the House’s first impeachment and the department openly flouting congressional oversight throughout Trump’s term. Rarely do we get such a stark example of the asymmetry of power between the two branches—a problem that has gotten worse across administrations of both parties.
It remains to be seen how much of a headache this will prove to be for Garland himself, but it does underscore the peculiar and ongoing liminal state in which the department exists. The Times reported that four department officials with varying levels of involvement “are still at the Justice Department” and that “[t]heir continued presence and leadership roles would seem to ensure that Mr. Biden’s appointees, including [Garland], would have a full understanding of the investigations.” ...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/merrick-garland-doj-corrupt-trump-subpoenas.html
15 replies
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This man is an utter failure.
to hold his fucking horses for a little while, since Garland has only been AG for a few months. It took MF45 four years to stack his loyalists up in Justice, and it'll take some time to weed them all out.
I only hope Mr. Khardori's parents weren't so disappointed when he failed to land a job as a journalist the day after graduating from high school. That's assuming Mr. Khardori did indeed graduate from high school.
I only hope Mr. Khardori's parents weren't so disappointed when he failed to land a job as a journalist the day after graduating from high school. That's assuming Mr. Khardori did indeed graduate from high school.
