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On his first day as U.S. Attorney General last March, Merrick Garland told Justice Department employees he was inspired by Republican Edward Levi. rice field. He played the same role under Gerald Ford in the 1970s.
Like Garland, Levi was from Chicago, but more importantly, after his turbulent and scandalous presidency of Nixon, he restored faith in American justice. widely recognized for doing so.
"The only way we can be successful and maintain the trust of the American public is to have the DNA of every Justice Department employee since Edward Levi served as the first post-Watergate attorney. It's about adhering to the norms that are part of the —it's common,' Garland said.
“These norms should treat similar cases alike. That there are no separate rules for Democrats and Republicans. There is," he added.
Garland is now trying to apply these principles toDonald Trump, and the effort puts the 69-year-old former federal judge and prosecutor in the political limelight. I'm going to take a bath.
Garland faced complaints from the left until last week he authorized an unprecedented FBI raid against former President Mar-a-Lago's residence. In the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
But now Garland has become the lightstick of the conservative outrage, a politically motivated conspiracy to undermine his chances of running for a second term as president in 2024.
"[Garland] is going up against a former president of the United States who still has a very large following filled with conspiracy theorists." He had to proceed with extreme caution,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Governance Research Program.
"He's not talking about it. He didn't ask for permission from the White House. He just played it very straight and that's his reputation," she said. added.
The Attorney General learned months ago that the former president had withheld documents in Mar-a-Lago from his time in the White House, including some that were highly classified. Garland ordered senior prosecutors to persuade Trump's lawyers to release him, first voluntarily and then through a subpoena.
After these efforts failed, Garland approved the request for a search warrant, but refrained from speaking publicly on the day the Mar-a-Lago raid occurred. I've only done it once, but I haven't delved into the probe's content.
"Much of our work necessarily takes place out of the public eye. We are committed to protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans and
But recent court filings by the Justice Department have shown the gravity of Trump's potential violations of law and invoked the obstruction of justice provision. and mishandling information critical to national security under the Espionage Act.They also revealed the nature of extensive investigations involving multiple witnesses.
Oklahoma in the 1990s. Garland, who helped secure the convictions of city bomber Timothy McVeigh and domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, and served 24 years on the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., said pursuing criminal charges against Trump would not be possible. It's an ironclad before he takes the next step of indicting.
"What they're doing now is trying to find evidence to figure out exactly what [Trump] had." "I think it's likely that they're combing through all of this," said Kel McClanahan, a national security attorney and professor at George Washington University. "This is being run like a mob investigation, an organized crime investigation."
Mr. Trump's raid has turned Garland into a villain in the eyes of the right, as well as the Justice Department and his FBI in general. reflected in Agent working on the case.
“Impeach Merrick Garland, root out the Justice Department, defend the corrupt FBI, impeach Biden. Weaponized law enforcement is communism, and America has no place. No,” Georgia Republican congressman Marjorie Taylor Green, a far-right and one of Trump's closest allies, tweeted on Monday.
Other Republicans The House Judiciary Committee asked Garland to retain his own documents related to the search and to be prepared to investigate his actions should he regain control of the House of Representatives in November.
But Garland, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by Barack Obama but refused a confirmation hearing by Senate Republicans, has so far appeared to be withstanding the pressure. "The Attorney General is in a very difficult position," said Aziz Haq.
"What the Department of Justice and Garland have tried to do is to demonstrate the legitimacy of the Department of Justice at a time when the bona fide judiciary is under great strain," he said. added.
If Garland hesitates to indict Trump — either for classified Mar-a-Lago documents or his role in the January 6 riots — his legacy will ultimately A former presidential injustice that could be the legacy of a dissenting, blink-and-you-blink Attorney General. But in a country as deeply divided as the United States, pursuing prosecutions, even if ultimately successful, is not without risks.
"He has a duty to uphold the law. But he clearly understands the political implications and is a very cautious person," said Kamarck of the Brookings Institution. Told. "Why would he open a hornet's nest like this unless he had a serious crime in mind?"
