In the name of returning the DOJ to “normal,” the attorney general has protected an abnormal president from accountability.
Monday night, Merrick Garland’s Justice Department shocked a lot of people by filing a brief in federal court effectively shielding Donald Trump from justice in a defamation suit over credible allegations that Trump may have raped writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s. Bill Barr, Trump’s attorney general, had come up with the argument that as a federal employee, Trump could not be sued for defamation. Observers had widely expected Biden’s department to reject that claim, so the announcement left Carroll’s lawyers and many observers slack-jawed.
It shouldn’t have. On several key matters, Garland’s DOJ has concealed the full extent of Trump’s wrongdoing; it has kept thousands of immigrants from obtaining green cards, while flooding the immigration system with Trump-selected judges; expanded the scope of police power; ensured oil and gas profits for decades to come; and explicitly protected one of Trump’s most hated Cabinet secretaries from accountability. Indeed, Garland has quietly emerged as Donald Trump’s unwitting hatchet man, doing almost everything in his power to protect the lawless former president’s legacy.
On May 24, Garland committed the DOJ to keep much of the so-called “Barr memo”—through which Garland’s predecessor almost unilaterally decided that no part of the Mueller probe would result in criminal charges—secret. Even Trump enemies who scoffed at the Russia probe should be disturbed by Garland’s other decisions, though. He has committed the DOJ to defending a Trump-era policy slashing the number of legal immigrants who qualify for green cards. He’s hiring dozens of new immigration court judges who received their initial offers during the Trump era, and codified Trump-era rules restricting immigrants’ options to prevent their own deportations. Garland’s Civil Rights Division also remains perilously understaffed, enormously hampering its ability to conduct oversight of municipal police departments. It also pursued private chat logs between government employees and reporters, a censorious case that began in the last 15 days of the Trump administration.
Much more...
newrepublic.com
I'm coming to the conclusion that Garland may be a worthless slug on the order of Bill Barr. What do you think?
Monday night, Merrick Garland’s Justice Department shocked a lot of people by filing a brief in federal court effectively shielding Donald Trump from justice in a defamation suit over credible allegations that Trump may have raped writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s. Bill Barr, Trump’s attorney general, had come up with the argument that as a federal employee, Trump could not be sued for defamation. Observers had widely expected Biden’s department to reject that claim, so the announcement left Carroll’s lawyers and many observers slack-jawed.
It shouldn’t have. On several key matters, Garland’s DOJ has concealed the full extent of Trump’s wrongdoing; it has kept thousands of immigrants from obtaining green cards, while flooding the immigration system with Trump-selected judges; expanded the scope of police power; ensured oil and gas profits for decades to come; and explicitly protected one of Trump’s most hated Cabinet secretaries from accountability. Indeed, Garland has quietly emerged as Donald Trump’s unwitting hatchet man, doing almost everything in his power to protect the lawless former president’s legacy.
On May 24, Garland committed the DOJ to keep much of the so-called “Barr memo”—through which Garland’s predecessor almost unilaterally decided that no part of the Mueller probe would result in criminal charges—secret. Even Trump enemies who scoffed at the Russia probe should be disturbed by Garland’s other decisions, though. He has committed the DOJ to defending a Trump-era policy slashing the number of legal immigrants who qualify for green cards. He’s hiring dozens of new immigration court judges who received their initial offers during the Trump era, and codified Trump-era rules restricting immigrants’ options to prevent their own deportations. Garland’s Civil Rights Division also remains perilously understaffed, enormously hampering its ability to conduct oversight of municipal police departments. It also pursued private chat logs between government employees and reporters, a censorious case that began in the last 15 days of the Trump administration.
Much more...
Why Is Merrick Garland Defending Donald Trump?
In the name of returning the DOJ to “normal,” the attorney general has protected an abnormal president from accountability.
newrepublic.com
I'm coming to the conclusion that Garland may be a worthless slug on the order of Bill Barr. What do you think?
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