{"id":2265614,"date":"2024-06-12T03:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T07:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/merrick-garland-thinks-his-justice-department-is-above-criticism\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T03:17:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T07:17:36","slug":"merrick-garland-thinks-his-justice-department-is-above-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/merrick-garland-thinks-his-justice-department-is-above-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrick Garland Believes His Justice Department is Beyond Reproach"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmerrick-garland-thinks-his-justice-department-is-above-criticism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2265614&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Attorney General Merrick\u2063 Garland, in an op-ed for The Washington Post, argued that unfounded\u2064 criticisms against the Justice Department, including\u2062 personal and dangerous attacks, must end. He highlighted recent escalations, including a case where a man was convicted of threatening\u2064 to bomb\u200c an FBI field office,\u2062 to illustrate increased hostility towards the department. \u2062Garland equated these \u200ddirect threats of violence to legislative threats to \u200cdefund DOJ investigations, particularly mentioning efforts surrounding the special \u2064counsel&#8217;s probe of\u2063 former President\u2063 Donald Trump by Jack Smith, which some consider corrupt.<\/p>\n<p>Garland criticized the spreading of conspiracy theories aimed at undermining trust in the judiciary, asserting the importance \u200cof differentiated between these theories and legitimate criticism. Yet,\u2063 his blending of criminal threats and protected speech has raised concerns about his stance on freedom of expression. He also \u200dresponded to allegations that the DOJ controlled the\u200c case against Trump\u200b by \u2064Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which resulted in a conviction that was criticized for its potential to be overturned on appeal. Despite claims of undue influence\u200c after a DOJ attorney\u2063 moved to Bragg&#8217;s team, Garland dismissed these as conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<p>The context of \u2064these statements provides insight \u2062into the\u200c tensions between public scrutiny, the rights to free speech, and the safeguarding of judicial processes from political and personal attacks.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Attorney General Merrick Garland published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/06\/11\/merrick-garland-justice-department-threats-fbi-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an op-ed in the Washington Post<\/a> Tuesday, declaring that unfounded attacks on the Justice Department \u201cmust end.\u201d It\u2019s strange and unsettling for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/read-it-29-sheriffs-promise-to-safeguard-second-amendment-as-biden-cracks-down-on-gun-rights\/\" title=\"READ IT: 29 Sheriffs Promise To Safeguard Second Amendment As Biden Cracks Down On Gun Rights\">chief law enforcement officer<\/a> of the United States to write such a thing. Whatever the merits of his argument, it doesn\u2019t come off as an argument. It comes off as a threat.<\/p>\n<p>Garland opens with the case of a man recently convicted for threatening to bomb an FBI field office. That\u2019s a crime, of course, and it has no place in American society. Garland goes on to say that in recent weeks the Justice Department has seen \u201can escalation of attacks that go far beyond public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work. They are baseless, personal and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-966986846\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f62ead3be74b5a34007e09224c11a13e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f62ead3be74b5a34007e09224c11a13e\"><\/div>\n<p>You would think, then, that he\u2019s referring to attacks like the bomb threat. But he\u2019s not. In the very next sentence, he says these attacks \u201ccome in the form of threats to defund particular department investigations, most recently the special counsel\u2019s prosecution of the former president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So for Garland, a bomb threat is apparently the same as threats by lawmakers to defund the obviously corrupt investigation of former President Donald Trump by DOJ special counsel Jack Smith.<\/p>\n<p>Garland then says that some of these \u201cattacks\u201d come in the form of \u201cconspiracy theories crafted and spread for the purpose of undermining public trust in the judicial process itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s no law in America against spreading \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d\u2014just ask the entire corporate media that spent years spreading outlandish conspiracy theories about how Trump was a Russian agent. What\u2019s more, many Americans now sincerely believe (with good reason) that in light of the ongoing lawfare against Trump, the judicial process itself is indeed compromised and undeserving of public trust. If these Americans are spreading what Garland thinks are \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d for the purpose of persuading their countrymen that the Justice Department is untrustworthy, that is their right as Americans.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8cdf9ca81918139829e2332f6f0ca5ec fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8cdf9ca81918139829e2332f6f0ca5ec\"><\/div>\n<p>But Garland doesn\u2019t appear to think so. Throughout his op-ed, he elides the stark difference between specific threats of violence (like a bomb threat) and First Amendment-protected speech (like disagreeing with Merrick Garland). We should expect nothing less from the attorney general who smeared concerned parents who speak out at school board meetings as \u201cdomestic terrorists.\u201d But what Garland alludes to is bone-chilling, because he\u2019s saying that \u201cunfounded\u201d criticism of a weaponized and politicized Justice Department is the equivalent of a bomb threat.<\/p>\n<p>Setting aside that such criticism is well within the bounds of protected speech, it\u2019s also not true that it\u2019s \u201cunfounded.\u201d For example, Garland says the DOJ is being attacked with \u201cfalse claims that a case brought by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/grand-jury-indicts-school-board-members-for-alleged-secret-discussions-about-racial-agenda\/\" title=\"Grand Jury Indicts School Board Members For Alleged Secret Discussions About Racial Agenda\">local district attorney<\/a> and resolved by a jury verdict in a state trial was somehow controlled by the Justice Department.\u201d He\u2019s referring here to the case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought against Trump in New York, winning a conviction against the former president last month on murky, convoluted charges that will likely be overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n<p>When Garland decries accusations that the case was \u201csomehow controlled by the Justice Department,\u201d he\u2019s referring to the fact that one of his own attorneys, Matthew Colangelo, left the DOJ and three days later joined Bragg\u2019s office to work on the Trump case\u2014a pretty obvious indication that Garland\u2019s Justice Department was in fact controlling, or at least involved in, the Bragg case.<\/p>\n<p>To suggest as much is, in Garland\u2019s view, a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d that \u201cmust end.\u201d That\u2019s what his office said to the useful idiots at Politico like Kyle Cheney, who dutifully carried water for Garland this week by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kyledcheney\/status\/1800513410305818835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posting on X<\/a> about how the DOJ informed House Republicans that it searched for emails between Colangelo and Bragg\u2019s office but found none.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04f1da35f16bbb0ccc8239b7df9f0cd9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04f1da35f16bbb0ccc8239b7df9f0cd9\"><\/div>\n<p>The outlandish implication of Cheney\u2019s tweet is that Colangelo left the Justice Department to work for Bragg without ever talking to anyone who worked there. As my colleague Mollie Hemingway <a href=\"http:\/\/A12C8D68-DBC6-487D-9936-610B95F76B40\/I%20guess%20if%20they%20didn%E2%80%99t%20use%20their%20public%20emails%20to%20discuss%20anything,%20Colangelo%20didn%E2%80%99t%20really%20go%20to%20Bragg%E2%80%99s%20office,%20and%20it%E2%80%99s%20a%20%E2%80%9Cconspiracy%20theory%E2%80%9D%20to%20talk%20about%20it.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commented<\/a>, \u201cI guess if they didn\u2019t use their public emails to discuss anything, Colangelo didn\u2019t really go to Bragg\u2019s office, and it\u2019s a \u2018conspiracy theory\u2019 to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because he refuses even to acknowledge these things, Garland can make absurd statements such as that the Justice Department \u201cmakes decisions about criminal investigations based only on the facts and the law. We do not investigate people because of their last name, their political affiliation, the size of their bank account, where they come from or what they look like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bur of course we all know that\u2019s not true. Just consider the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-asks-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-request-in-fbi-classified-documents-case\/\" title=\"DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Reject Trump Request in FBI Classified Documents Case\">classified documents case<\/a> against Trump. Both Biden and Obama improperly removed classified documents from the White House, and neither was prosecuted by their successor\u2019s Justice Department. It\u2019s also obviously true that Garland <em>refuses<\/em> to investigate people because of their last name, as evidenced by special counsel David Weiss allowing the statute of limitations to expire on Hunter Biden\u2019s alleged financial crimes connected to his dealing with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.<\/p>\n<p>The most dangerous aspect of Garland\u2019s op-ed is how he lumps things together. He claims that \u201cusing conspiracy theories, falsehoods, violence and threats of violence to affect political outcomes is not normal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Using conspiracy theories and falsehoods to affect political outcomes is absolutely normal in American politics\u2014especially among Democrats and their courtesans in the corporate press. They\u2019ve turned it into an art form. But of course Garland isn\u2019t talking about <em>those<\/em> conspiracy theories and falsehoods. He\u2019s only talking about the ones that come from Trump supporters, which to him are the real danger.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the real danger here is an attorney general who thinks he\u2019s above criticism, and who feels comfortable issuing public threats that we\u2019d better cut it out\u2014or else.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c9003e7f72cdb89237d8215daed2ae96 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c9003e7f72cdb89237d8215daed2ae96\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a Washington Post op-ed, asserted that baseless criticisms of the Justice Department need to stop. It&#8217;s unusual and disconcerting for the U.S.&#8217;s top law enforcement officer to make such a declaration. Regardless of his argument&#8217;s validity, it lacks the typical persuasive tone expected in such discussions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":518,"featured_media":2265615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Merrick-Garland-1.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2265614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Merrick-Garland-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2265614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2265615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2265614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2265614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2265614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}