Attorney General Merrick Garland Is Attempting to Obstruct a Congressional Investigation By Greg Byrnes
Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to appoint Jack Smith as a special counsel to investigate President Trump’s handling of government documents at Mar-a-Lago as well as January 6 needs to be thoroughly investigated and countered by the incoming GOP House of Representatives. They must study if this rogue Attorney General has committed impeachable offenses and, if so, act quickly to impeach him.
President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s loss of a 100% Democrat-controlled January 6th Committee to Republicans now has all the makings of a Constitutional crisis.
Rather than accepting that the other party is now in charge and allowing a peaceful transfer of investigative powers to the Republicans, the Democrats and the Justice Department have opted to break all norms to stop that. This is about more than Democrats losing control of their beloved “narrative.” The appointment of a special counsel will block the newly installed Republican House from investigating uncomfortable questions about the Justice Department and FBI’s behavior concerning the Capitol riot on January 6.
If there were embedded agents in some of the groups of bad actors responsible for the riot, why was no one warned of the impending attack? Or if they were warned, why did they fail to act? Why were law enforcement and the Justice Department so badly surprised by events? Why, despite President Trump’s offer of 10,000 troops in the weeks before the event, were law enforcement officials not pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Muriel Bowser to be forearmed and prepared? Or if they were warned, why did they fail to act?
In the Nixon Watergate days, the mantra was that it wasn’t the crime; it was the cover-up. Garland’s special counsel appointment has all the earmarks of a cover-up. What cleaner way to engage in obstruction of Congress and its oversight powers than to hide it behind the cloak of special counsel secrecy? After two years during which he could have acted, Garland chose to appoint a special counsel only after the investigation was being turned over to Republican hands. The move screams of obstruction of Congress and a nonpolitical government agency’s interference in the political process.
Nancy Pelosi broke every precedent of the House by refusing to allow Republican leaders to appoint January 6th Committee members. Now we have a sweeping special counsel mandate to investigate anyone from the date of the 2020 election through January 6 who purportedly interfered with the “transfer of power” — including thousands of Capitol Hill staffers, Trump lawyers, Republican political operatives, and even 100 or so members of congress who wanted to delay certification of the election to allow legal challenges or to challenge electoral college delegates. By not resolving timely legal challenges to the 2020 election, Chief Justice John Roberts may have invited a far more serious constitutional challenge to the balance of power between the branches of government.
Merrick Garland has launched a sweeping attack on the independence of Congress. Time for the Republicans to act. It is not the time for “Oh, let the investigation follow its course” passivity. This is a sham, and if you know it, stop it. No spending bill should pass through the House without a rider defunding the special counsel. Congress needs a free hand to finish its investigation.
If Republicans don’t use their power to stop this before it starts, all House requests for documents and testimony will be blocked by the White House and the Department of Justice as “compromising an ongoing” investigation. What better shield to hide wrongdoing, malfeasance, and incompetence? These investigations aren’t ongoing; they are never-ending taxpayer-funded opposition research. And what better jury nullification pool than Washington, D.C., to ensure that no matter what happens, Democrats walk and Republicans rot in solitary?
If the House gives the executive branch a pass on scouring the communications of all members of Congress, their staff, and outside consultants, while committee chairs are blocked from access to Executive branch documents and witnesses, they will have allowed themselves to be neutered.
The Democrats, the Justice Department, and the FBI are now turning on the House the same weapons they used on Donald Trump, except now they’ll use this legal farce to run out the clock not on a Republican President but on a Republican House of Representatives. The goal is to derail the Republican House agenda and ensure no one turns over any slimy rocks in the Federal bureaucracy. If the House doesn’t move to start an impeachment investigation and to cut funding for this politically motivated investigation, their ability to conduct Congressional oversight will die the death of a thousand unanswered subpoenas.
Merrick Garland has both politicized and weaponized the Justice Department. He has put his thumb on the scales of justice. He refuses to appoint special counsels for Democrats but finds the flimsiest of excuses to appoint one to prevent Republican investigations of his own government agency. Attorney General Garland is the one who needs to be thoroughly investigated for using a non-partisan government department for partisan purposes and obstructing a Congressional investigation. The time is now to begin impeachment hearings.
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