Below is my column in The Hill on the concerning record of Attorney General Merrick Garland on a variety of recent matters, including a frivolous privilege claim to withhold the audiotape of President Joe Biden during the Hur interview. There is a certain corruption of judgment that is evident from this and other decisions by Garland since he became Attorney General.
Here is the column:
This week, Attorney General Merrick Garland took to the pages of the Washington Post to lash out at critics who are spreading what he considers “conspiracy theories crafted and spread for the purpose of undermining public trust in the judicial process itself.” His column, titled “Unfounded attacks on the Justice Department must end,” missed the point.
It is Garland himself who has become the problem. The solution is in Wilmington, Delaware, where 12 average citizens just showed a commitment to the rule of law that seems to be harder and harder for the attorney general to meet.
Since his appointment, Garland has repeated a mantra that he is apolitical and would never yield to the pressures of politics or the White House. When he was nominated, I believed that claim and enthusiastically supported Garland’s confirmation. He was, I thought, the perfect man for the job after his distinguished judicial service as a moderate judge.
I was wrong. Garland’s tenure as attorney general has shown a pronounced reluctance to take steps that would threaten President Biden. He slow-walked the appointment of a special counsel investigating any Biden, and then excluded from the counsel’s scope any investigation of the massive influence peddling operation by Hunter Biden, his uncle and others.
However, it is what has occurred in the last six months that has left some of us shaken, given our early faith in Garland.
I have long been a critic of Garland’s failure to order a special counsel to look into the extensive evidence of corruption surrounding the Bidens. As I stated in my testimony in the Biden impeachment hearing, there is ample evidence that Biden lied repeatedly about his knowledge of this corruption and his interaction with these foreign clients.
However, a more worrisome concern is the lack of consistency in these investigations. First, Special Counsel Robert Hur found that Biden knowingly retained and mishandled classified material. However, he concluded that Biden’s age and diminished faculties would make him too sympathetic to a jury. It was less sympathetic than pathetic, given that this is the same man who is running for re-election to lead the most powerful nation on Earth. More importantly, Garland has not made obvious efforts to reach a consistent approach in the two cases by dropping charges based on the same crimes by Trump in Florida. (Such action would not affect the obstruction counts).
Second, Garland has allowed Special Counsel Jack Smith to maintain positions that seem diametrically at odds with past Justice Department policies. This includes Smith’s statement that he will try Trump up to (and even through) the next election. It also includes a sweeping gag order which would have eviscerated free speech protections by gagging Trump from criticizing the Justice Department. While Garland has said that he wants to give the special counsels their independence, it falls to him to protect the consistency and values of his department.
Garland’s most brazenly political act has been the laughable executive privilege claim used to withhold the audiotape of the Hur-Biden interviews. The Justice Department has not claimed that the transcript is privileged, but only that the audiotape of Biden’s comments is privileged. This is so logically disconnected that even CNN hosts have mocked it.
The Justice Department went further in court by adding conspiracy to absurdity as part of its unhinged theory. It asserted a type of “deepfake privilege” on the basis that the release of the audiotape could allow AI systems to create fake versions of the president’s words. It ignores that there are already ample public sources now to create such fake tapes and that, by withholding the real audiotape, the Justice Department only makes such fake copies more likely to arise and ensnare the unwary.
Most importantly, the arguments of a “he-who-must-not-be-heard” privilege or a deep-fake privilege are ridiculous. Garland knows that, as would any first-year law student. Yet, he is going along with a claim that is clearly designed to protect Biden from embarrassment before the next election. It is entirely political and absurd.
After stumbling through a half-hearted defense of the audiotape decision before he was held in contempt of Congress, Garland was faced with another clear test of principle. Three House committees (Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means) this month referred for prosecution cases of perjury against Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden. Despite what appear to be open-and-shut allegations that they lied to Congress, most everyone in Washington believes that Garland and the Justice Department will slow-walk and then scuttle the referrals to protect the Bidens.
This is the same Justice Department that seemed on a hair-trigger to prosecute Trump officials for perjury and contempt after referrals from Democrat-controlled committees.
The questions at issue were not “gotcha” traps, like showing up at Michael Flynn’s office to nail him on his description of a meeting with Russian diplomats. These were some of the most-discussed questions heading into Hunter Biden’s long-delayed appearance before the committees.
Hunter is accused of lying about his position at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, a corporate entity that moved millions of dollars from foreign individuals and entities to Hunter Biden. He also allegedly lied about the identity of the recipient of his controversial message to a Chinese businessman, in which he threatened that his father was sitting “right next to me” and would join him in retaliating against the Chinese if they did not send millions. They promptly wired the money as demanded.
Hunter’s answers appear to be demonstrably untrue. Yet, there is little faith that the Justice Department will allow the matter to be presented to a grand jury. If Garland’s pledge to remain apolitical were widely accepted, there would be little question about the prosecution of such compelling claims.
Garland now appears entirely adrift in his own department. While mouthing platitudes about being beyond politics, he continues to run interference for the Biden White House. He appears to be looking to close aides for such direction.
He should instead look to those 12 people in Wilmington, Delaware.
Despite facing overwhelming evidence of Hunter Biden’s guilt, his legal team pursued a jury-nullification strategy. Wilmington is Bidentown, the hometown for the president and his family. An array of Bidens, including the first lady, lined up behind Hunter during the trial, in case anyone forgot that fact.
Yet the jury convicted Hunter on all counts without any hesitation. Despite sympathy for a recovering drug addict in a town that has overwhelmingly supported the Bidens for decades, “nobody mentioned anything about political motivations” in the jury room, as one juror noted. “I was never thinking of President Joe Biden,” said another.
Garland needs to show a modicum of that courage and principle as attorney general. He could start by dropping the farcical privilege claims over the audiotape and sending the referrals to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the same priority treatment afforded to Trump officials like Flynn.
As it stands, few believe that will happen, despite Garland’s repeated line about transcending politics. It is not the mantra that is in doubt, but the man.
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University School of Law. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon and Schuster, 2024).
Has my name been removed
Is this creep a bridge troll?
And to think that the turd, cocaine mitch was instrumental in preventing Garland from getting on the supreme court.
He deserves accolades for that one.
May I quote Ben Stein? “Debating the left is like talking to a dementia Patient”
Garland’s most brazenly political act has been the laughable executive privilege claim used to withhold the audiotape of the Hur-Biden interviews.
You are wrong. Unless of course, your memory is so short that you don’t recall Jack Smith’s actions a short 12 years ago as the Obama/Biden DoJ’s police state fascist prosecutor to take out political threats during the 2012 election.
You don’t recall Jack Smith advising Louis Lerner that she could use the IRS to shut down GOP-get-out-the-vote groups up until the election by “investigating” them until after the election – which she did? That Obama claimed after winning reelection that the IRS closure of those groups was “a mistake I wasn’t aware of (during a reelection campaign?)” – but neither Lerner nor Smith were fired?
As a SCOTUS follower, you don’t recall during that same 2012 reelection campaign Jack Smith targeting, indicting, and convicting the potential GOP nominee that Obama and Biden were most terrified of running against, Governor Bob McDonnell?
You don’t remember that once the election was over and Obama defeated weak Mitt Romney, the appeal got to SCOTUS that threw out the conviction of McDonnell. And in the decision they wrote that Jack Smith created new law out of whole cloth and modified existing law to suit his purposes for prosecution?
Professor Turley, you don’t remember that in that unanimous decision, SCOTUS stated that prosecutors like Jack Smith engaging in prosecutions like this were “a threat to the separation of powers”. Do you need the link to that SCOTUS decision to refresh your memory, sir? Or can you find the link without help?
And with Jack Smith’s record as a Democrat administration prosecutor during that 2012 election year, Merrick Garland (and his second in command Lisa Monaco who worked with Smith in those fraudulent investigations under Obama) chose to bring back Jack Smith to once again indict and attempt to convict the greatest threat to this president’s re-election. Using exactly the same tactics as Smith did back in 2012?
Jack Smith is what an impartial, unbiased Special Prosecutor looks like to trained Democrat legal minds like Merrick Garland and yourself? No glaring warning signs with his appointment?
You believe Merrick Garland wasn’t aware of Jack Smith’s history from 2012 as a political hitman and that SCOTUS decision? You also don’t remember what Jack Smith did in 2012 and how what he’s doing now is what SCOTUS said he did in 2012? You as well as Merrick Garland don’t recall that SCOTUS decision calling him a threat to our republic?
This is blatant police state fascism, not just ‘corruption’. And with your Democrat blinders on, you have been reluctantly forcing yourself towards the truth, painful inch by painful inch but still far short of openly admitting this is police state fascism, Lavarentiy Beria style, since Obama and Biden sent their Attorney Generals prior to Garland and FBI directors out to perjure themselves to FISA courts in 2016 about their criminally written “Russia Dossier”.
Garland is just the latest chapter in this story of Soviet style police state fascism from Democrats like Obama, Biden, and now Garland… and you continue attempting to not believe your lying eyes as Biden and the mainstream media demand you do.
With so much deception by elected Democrats, including Democrats in the DOJ, FBI, CIA, etc. since 2015 which is equivalent to a tsunami of illicit conduct like submitting fraudulent FISA search warrant requests, can the Democrat party be legitimately labeled a political crime organization? If not, why not? Looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a duck.
Is it
We sure dodged a bullet with this guy…he could have been a Supreme Court Justice (perish the thought!).
Thank God, he is not!!!
KM
Garland’s a hebe
And what has that to do with discussing his merits as Attorney General? If you actually believe it does, tell us why. Also, if you are firm in your beliefs, why don’t you post under your real name rather than Anonymous? By the way, since I don’t know how this is going to be identified my name is Allan Jenkins and I live in Maryland.
It is amazing to me, in this truly complex modern world, how much damage one corrupt evil person can do, and the atrocious consequences that affect hundreds of millions of people in the wake.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent
The fact that Garland underlings have not resigned in protest demonstrates that the entire DOJ leadership is corrupt and without honor.
Under Clinton and Janet Reno (and Jamie Gorelick running it while Reno was propped up in the corner) Garland supervised the cover-up of the OKC bombing. McVeigh had an accomplice, the FBLie said he never existed. Later Tom Jarriel of ABC news got footage of the ATF looking for the bomb that AM before the attack shown on TV but the FBI stopped further investigation, according video “A Noble Lie”. They interview survivors including the woman who was the union rep for Murrah Building employees, verified the ATF part. And no ATFs killed or injured and they left those kids in the day care. Evil. Later Deputy Terry Yeakey was “suicided” while looking into the case (the NY Times coughed up an obituary blaming “survivor’s guilt). An in-fed-custody homicide of a man named Kent Trentadue was covered up as well, his brother attorney Jesse Trentadue did extract a $1 million wrongful death settlement but the case was not even investigated, the “fact checks” all say it was a self-hanging. They don’t tell about the other 2 jailhouse hangings that followed of witnesses to the case. By the time we get to Obama Holder is supervising gun running to Mexico (“Fast and Furious”) while lying about it–hey wasn’t there a Contempt of Congress case vs. Holder? Where the DOJ did nothing.
We all dodged a bullet! Dont forget that he was nominated for the SUPREME COURT!!!
He may yet be appointed to the supreme Court if the democrats pull off another steal.
what strikes me is that we have been in a passive aggressive civil war for almost 50 years and nobody wants to talk about it.
Trump, Bannon, ect. talk about it every day
Etc.
When the time comes for the Elite of the Marxist Establishment to dump Biden, The tape will be released.
I’m so glad this asylum escapee was not appointed to SCOTUS. We would already be the USSA.