Merrick Garland's Shoes

[kentuck]

What should Merrick Garland be doing that he is not doing already?

If there is another violent riot before this summer is over, Merrick Garland could be the scapegoat? Why didn't he do this or why didn't he do that, to stop it?

There are many Trump supporters that truly believe he will be back in the White House before the month of August is gone. If he is not, they will be deeply disappointed, just as they were deeply disappointed that he lost to Joe Biden. Will he once again direct them towards violence? (Will he use the Ashli Bobbit tragedy to convince them that they may be next?)

If the present situation turns worse, it will probably be blamed on Merrick Garland. He knew, just as the whole world knew, that Donald Trump was inciting violence, in the name of "free speech". It wasn't free speech. It was inciting insurrection and sedition.

There is no easy solution for Merrick Garland. It is not politically feasible for him to charge Donald Trump at this time. It would be too divisive and could create violence in itself. The FBI is arresting the insurrectionists as quickly as it finds them. But, so far, they have arrested none of the leaders of the insurrection, which would include Congressmen and Senators. That is not politically possible at this time.

What a drag it must be to be in Merrick Garland's shoes?

[lagomorph777]

1. Well, he could start by not actively protecting Trump in court.

[jrthin]

2. Spot on!

[Darwins_Retriever]

3. He isn't protecting Trump

He is protecting the Office of the President.

[lagomorph777]

6. Give me a break.

He is taking the position that libeling (slandering) somebody who has made a criminal accusation about him, is somehow part of his official duties. That is utter bullshit on its face.

[Marrah_Goodman]

5. Bingo

[PsakiPswirli]

4. Another factor-

Donnie Two Scoops appears to be in serious mental decline. Without coordination from the bully pulpit, who can effectively lead these traitorous bastards? The only thing Q is good at is moving the goalposts when his time lines aren't met.

[Solomon]

7. Why is it politically impossible to arrest the leaders?!

What do you mean politically impossible to arrest the leaders? That sounds like we can't ever arrest the leaders.

Why oh why do we care so much about the deplorables? How can they ever learn the consequences of their actions if we keep mollycoddling them and giving them a pass because they are stupid.

Oh that's right. Never mind. They are white.

[kentuck]

8. I believe Merrick Garland believes it is impossible to arrest the political leaders.

Maybe he is right?

[Ocelot II]

9. Why do you think he thinks that? Has he said so?

It is always politically uncomfortable to prosecute political opponents, but since none have even been charged with federal crimes (yet), arresting them would certainly be jumping the gun. Right now the state of New York is going after the Trump Org, and they aren't finished with that investigation. Let that play out, then see where the DoJ should get involved.

[kentuck]

12. The danger is that the game may be over before it plays out?

I think it is a positive development that Trump Org has finally been indicted. That might occupy their time for a while?

None of us know what Merrick Garland thinks about prosecuting political "opponents". We only have our opinions.

[notinkansas]

26. True. Our opinions and our hopes.

[lagomorph777]

14. Um, no, we can't just sit on our thumbs while NY deals with one tiny side-issue.

DOJ needs to be working really hard, 24/7, to discover, arrest, and prosecute all involved in the Insurrection (all the way to the top), and also the Reptilians' other myriad of crimes, such as jailing babies, suppressing votes, sabotaging USPS, etc.

[Ocelot II]

16. Sensitive criminal investigations do not normally occur in public.

If the DoJ is investigating Trump they are not going to blab it all over CNN. As the late unlamented Donald Rumsfeld once said, "Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence." We don't know what the DoJ is up to, but considering the NY indictments revealing evidence of federal as well as state tax evasion, they are very likely to be up to something.

[lagomorph777]

17. Publicly, they are protecting Trump in court.

That doesn't bode well.

[Ocelot II]

18. They are protecting the office of the presidency.

I don't agree with the position they have taken but it does have some support in legal precedent. It may be simply that they are hoping for an appellate court decision one way or the other and then they can wash their hands of it. Sometimes government lawyers are stuck with cases they don't like because the law obligates them to defend their client, the government.

[lagomorph777]

20. They are defiling the office of the presidency.

The actions they are defending are not connected with or justified by Trump's former job title. He deserves no such protection; the "Office" deserves better.

[Ocelot II]

21. I don't agree with their position but there's support for it in the law.

So there's that.

[lagomorph777]

23. No, there is not.

The law supports protection for actions that are part of the President's official duties. The actions in question are blatantly not covered.

[Ocelot II]

24. Here's the brief. The issue is whether the Westfall Act applies to a president.

http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2021/images/06/07/jean.carroll.pdf

[lagomorph777]

25. 404 error.

Even if (in appropriate cases) the Act applies, the acts in question should clearly not be protected behavior.

[kentuck]

19. Good point.

I suspect there will be more indictments. This is a starting point, not an ending point. The question is, will it be too late once they get the evidence they need and the guilt is indisputable.

[FM123]

11. I sure hope he does not think that.

Other countries have put their former presidents and political leaders in jail for their crimes: President Park of South Korea, President Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel, President Chen of Taiwan etc.

[notinkansas]

10. The 'not politically feasible' and 'not politically possible' scenarios

become much more likely as time goes on. The gqp has already begun diminishing the severity of 1/6, and that will only get worse as justice is delayed.

Those prosecutions should have started a long time ago. The insurrection is not something to be taken in stride. It demanded as immediate a response as possible. Arresting participants on largely minor charges and then releasing them is not justice.

Garland needs to do better. If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear them. Move on.

[kentuck]

13. I agree with you that it is not going away.

The GQP will not be successful in trying to minimize and push down the memory hole, what happened on January 6th.

[lagomorph777]

15. Letting them go, only to discover they are building pipe bombs, is literally insane.

[Elessar Zappa]

22. If they try violence again,

they will be smashed. There won’t be complicit leadership this time.