Attorney General Merrick Garland might need to make a decision that would put him at the forefront of a firestorm from the partisan end. This would decidedly be a major possibility if he agrees to the request from the House that the department would be pursuing a case of criminal contempt against Steve Bannon for his refusal to be cooperative in the insurrection probe conducted by legislators.
This could get even muddier, considering Garland’s nomination was based on the complete insulation of the Department of Justice from intersectional politics.
Merrick Garland Needs To Make A Tough Call
The situation is definitely not in Merrick Garland’s favor- after all, how did one manage to not sabotage their fledgling political career after proceeding against an ally of the former President who was accused of non-cooperation by a committee which was investigating an insurrection? On Thursday, the House had approved a contempt resolution against the ally in a 229-202 vote- which will see him being put before the Department of Justice to decide whether the case would move towards criminal prosecution.
Merrick Garland, who has been a former judge on the influential federal appeals court at DC, has been lauded by the President as being one of the most respected jurists of this generation. Garland had also pledged against partisanship at this confirmation hearing- stating that he was not the lawyer of a former President- or the current President- he was the lawyer of the country.
While lauded by the President, his tenure as the head of the Department of Justice has managed to attract some skepticism from the left. Most of his critics have been frustrated by the Department’s lack of public indications that a solid case was being built against the former President.
At this point in time, Merrick Garland is definitely in some hot water, with the President stating that he believed that witnesses should be prosecuted for not cooperating with the committee.
