Did Merrick Garland blow it? Left-wingers blame AG as Trump charges dropped

https://www.newsweek.com/merrick-garland-blame-donald-trump-jan6-case-dropped-1991694

41 comments

  1. **Attorney General Merrick Garland has received criticism from left-leaning figures after the federal case over President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results was dropped.**

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    U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan approved special counsel Jack Smith’s request to dismiss the case surrounding the events leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol in the wake of Trump’s 2024 election victory.

    The Department of Justice has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump, who denied four federal charges, was frequently accused of using delay tactics to push the case beyond November’s election. This includes filing legal proceedings arguing that he cannot be prosecuted for actions committed while in office, a position the Supreme Court largely agreed with in a historic July decision.

    Garland, who leads the DOJ, has now faced backlash for not moving forward with the investigation quickly enough, including waiting until November 2022 to appoint Smith as special counsel. Others have said this delay ultimately led to Trump winning the 2024 election and being allowed to reenter the White House next year.

    Tristan Snell, a former assistant attorney general for New York who led the investigation and prosecution into Trump University and spoke at this year’s Democratic National Convention, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Merrick Garland will either go down as the most ineffective attorney general in American history—or there will no longer be America or history as we know it.” In 2016, the Republican settled multiple lawsuits over claims his Trump University had defrauded students. The president-elect had denied any wrongdoing.

    *Newsweek* has contacted the DOJ for comment via email.

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    A number of other progressive figures have criticized Garland after the case was dropped.

    Political commentator, podcast host and author of *Shameless: Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy,* Brian Tyler Cohen, posted: “Thank God Merrick Garland waited nearly two years to appoint Jack Smith because, after all, nothing is more important than preventing the optics of politicization.”

    In reply, Jonathan Greenberg, investigative journalist and founder of the Stop Trump Dictatorship Project as well as of Progressive Source Communications, wrote: “Garland is to blame & [President Joe] Biden for appointing a weak AG after the most dangerous coup attempt in our nation’s history. Trump would be in jail right now had Garland not blocked Trump’s Jan. 6 prosecution for 20 months to allow SCOTUS’ delay till dictator strategy to prevail.”

    Speaking to NewsNation’s Dan Abrams, former attorney and radio host on SiriusXM’s progressive channel, Dean Obeidallah dismissed the suggestion that Garland was right not to rush a federal criminal investigation into a former president.

  2. Attorney General Merrick Garland is a piece of shit fucking coward and a traitor.

  4. The Supreme Court deserves its share of the blame, as well. If they hadn’t slow-walked considering the appeal and then made a stunningly bad immunity ruling, the J6 trial would have been over before Election Day. Cannon also merits a special place in hell.

  6. He sucks so much. Worst AG in American history.

  7. Case dropped already? Judicial requests move quickly when they are in Trump’s favor.

  8. Yes. Saved you a click.

    He blew it by taking so long. Dropping the charges fall in line with DOJ internal policy saying you can’t prosecute a sitting president which the SCOTUS would absolutely uphold if it went there.

  9. Are we seriously to the point of asking rhetorical, bullshit questions and calling them headlines? 

    Garland will go down as one of the unwitting architects of this country’s downfall by being such a gutless, spineless fucking coward and he deserves to be held accountable for failure to perform his duties to protect this country from criminals. 

    Either that or, soon enough, we find out that he’s been a cult member all along and just there to ensure nothing actually happens to Trump. Only other thing that makes sense. 

  11. Srsly?

    4 years. 4 years of unprecedented challenges to the justice system. And what did Garland do?

    A steaming pile of nothing.

  12. Clearly Merrick Garland has failed as the Attorney General in every aspect!

  13. He acted with zero urgency and Trump was successfully able to delay the cases until he won the election. What does this tell you? Garland is a Republican, and he is indifferent to Trump’s impending fascist reign on America. Stop relying on Republicans to save America. Hell, stop trying to rely on most Democrats, for that matter. The institutions will not save you. What will save America is a groundswell of resistance from ordinary people, fighting back, pushing back against Trump’s cabal of chaos.

  14. Lots to blame but nothing will change the true enemy, the amount of stupid & spiteful in this country.

  15. Garland should have to take the place of trump in his jail sentence

  16. Of course he blew it. He failed to hold a felon and sexual predator accountable for trying to overthrow an election and failing to take care of U.S. secrets. He deserves condemnation.

  18. It’ll no longer be called “quiet quitting” but forever known as “pulling a Garland.”

  19. SCOTUS: for delaying and eventually ruling Trump immune

    Garland: for delaying 2+ years before even appointing Jack Smith

    Judge Aileen Cannon: for obvious corruption in stalling the Classified Docs case

    Senate Republicans: for refusing to impeach twice, even in the case of the attempted violent insurrection of J6

    All of the above have enabled and are complicit in the current transition to a Fascist Dictatorship America is now undergoing.

  20. Yes. Garland absolutely blew it. If Trump had been arrested on day 1 of the Biden admin and then prosecuted immediately, he would be in jail right now.

  22. Unequivocally yes, he blew it and put the future of America at risk as a result

  23. My dad, who is about as centrist you can get, has been saying Garland blew it since day one. It’s not leftists, it’s every one with an ounce of respect for this country who has eyes and ears.

  24. Knowing that this was Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court that Mitch McConnell broke precedent to block just goes to show how far back the Democrats were playing an entirely different game than Republicans. Obama picked Garland to appeal to conservatives and get him in, Trump picked those who want to root up the Constitution from the foundation.

  26. If shit goes south, the hidden History books of what remains of world democracies will cite his name as part of the crew that catalysed it all

  27. I blame Biden and Garland. Their inaction could cost us dearly. Cowards do not belong in government.

  29. Yes he blew it. Just useless when it comes to the last regime. Now they will probably investigate him

  30. He’s a spineless wimp. He couldn’t stand up to an 8yr old insulting him .

  31. I’d say it was Mutch McConnell that blew it. He refused to convict on the insurrection impeachment.

  32. Might go down as the most consequential AG pick in American history. Did nothing and let a criminal get away with everything that became the new President. His name will live on as a disgrace to this country for generations.

  34. Everyone fucking blew it. I didn’t go out screaming on the streets for justice. It’s over. We blew it. Now we have to fix our mess.

  36. Merrick Garland will go down as the single worst political appointment in the history of the United States, providing there is a history left to tell.

  37. Jack Smith rapid-fired indictments that were so tight they survived the insane gauntlet of countless checks along the way, grand juries, special grand juries, cases that didn’t even involve Smith also went through the process and actually found resolution. Things that were handled outside of the DoJ comically outpaced the DoJ until the J6 House committee embarrassed the living fuck out of the DoJ so that they’d finally get off their god damn ass and do their fucking job.

    THAT is when Smith got appointed…..

    **2 years after the administration switch over.**

    Given that we now know the charges were SO fucking tight and incredibly sound to have *been able to BE rapid-fired off like they were AND to be able to survive through ALL of the checks and balances* it is safe to say that Garland intentionally wanted to not go after Trump, regardless. That’s ***astonishing considering the situation itself is completely unprecedented*** so the success-rate of those indictments is a very, very bad look for Garland.

    So you look and see what Smith was able to do VERY quickly….which then makes Garland look **complicit.**

    Smith didn’t need 2 years to **start and finish** his investigations, BUT because they started at the 2-years in mark, ***they got shufflefucked in court***. Garland waited WAY too long and yes, it’s clear he was complicit in shielding Trump.

    Otherwise Smith wouldn’t have been able to see ALL of his charges actually legit make it through all of those gauntlets. Merrick Garland deserves scorn. It’s the right thing to feel about him. The only other possible excuse for Garland would sound like an excuse of his ineptitude and that’s not any better.

    Accidentally fucking us or intentionally fucking us still leads to fucking us. So, in light of that, **fuck** Garland.

  38. They go low, we go high.

    Prosecuting your political opponents isn’t going high. And, what a surprise?!! The Dems ***never*** seem to prosecute the Republicans. Even when they are clearly guilty.

    This isn’t just Garland – this is the exact same failed strategy the Dems always go with. Always.

  39. Yes, his decision to go soft on Trump has brought the US down.

  40. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)

  41. Yes he could have ended this but waited way to long to file charges needed to be done early in 21

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