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Joinfortmill

(16,978 posts)
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 12:32 PM Jan 16

'Merrick Garland is Getting a Bum Rap' Harry Litman said it, not me...

https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/merrick-garland-is-getting-a-bum

My Words: This is a long and, in my opinion, important analysis written by a knowledgeable and trusted voice. Please take the time to read Harry's entire article.

'The claim that he is responsible for Trump’s evasion of accountability is clearly wrong.'
Harry Litman


'Some time in the next five days, Merrick Garland will step down as the nation’s 86th attorney general, ..The storyline that Garland let moss grow on the investigation—some say until Smith came aboard, others until the work of the January 6 Committee embarrassed the Department—doesn’t survive scrutiny...Jack Smith’s report, made public early Tuesday, confirms these points generally and in many particulars. Smith sets out the broad range of investigative measures that preceded his appointment and that “developed a thorough record of independently verified facts.” He also documents the time-consuming sealed privilege litigation that occurred beginning in the summer of 2022 and followed from other investigative work...

It’s understandable that some of the frustration over Trump’s escape from justice has been displaced onto Garland. In contrast to Trump’s defenders, Garland embodied the defense of the rule of law. We put our faith (or at least our hope) in him to bring Trump down, and it didn’t happen. It’s easy to make him a scapegoat.

But once you factor in the Supreme Court, Aileen Cannon, the litigation system’s opportunities for delay, and ultimately, a major portion of the American electorate that didn’t reject the idea of a felonious president but actually seemed entertained by the prospect, it never was in the cards to bring Trump to justice before November 5. A different approach on Garland’s part would not have changed the outcome.'

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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'Merrick Garland is Getting a Bum Rap' Harry Litman said it, not me... (Original Post) Joinfortmill Jan 16 OP
Just the usual list of excuses Bobstandard Jan 16 #1
even if we took these issues out of the mix, the fuck has he even done worth applauding? thebigidea Jan 16 #2
thank you. the 'narrative' has always been more narrative than anything else stopdiggin Jan 16 #3
Garland failed miserably. I place him with Barr and even Mitchell as the worst AGs in recent history. brush Jan 16 #4
Garland is a bum blueknight73 Jan 16 #5
Gotta blame someone for trump winning Electoral Votes and popular vote, I guess. Silent Type Jan 16 #6
This obsession with him is beyond bizarre. tritsofme Jan 16 #7
I know... LeftInTX Jan 16 #9
It's cult like. William769 Jan 16 #10
this is the truth bigtree Jan 16 #8
Same old excuses, blah, blah, blah. lees1975 Jan 16 #11
I'm sorry, but Jilly_in_VA Jan 16 #12

Bobstandard

(1,780 posts)
1. Just the usual list of excuses
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 12:36 PM
Jan 16

Many posts here blow up every one of these excuses for Garlands failure.

thebigidea

(13,436 posts)
2. even if we took these issues out of the mix, the fuck has he even done worth applauding?
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 12:39 PM
Jan 16

I don't see Biden coming out thanking him for all his great work.

let Marcy Wheeler run his fan club and sell t-shirts for all I care.

stopdiggin

(13,219 posts)
3. thank you. the 'narrative' has always been more narrative than anything else
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 12:42 PM
Jan 16

without ever survived any real (unprejudiced) scrutiny.
and the fact that it keeps coming back around - is a product of our times, and not analysis.
frustration does not equal either validation or improved storyline.

Chief among the (flatly erroneous) claims - -
1) court cases can be fast tracked - if there is sufficient will ..
not the way it works, and it certainly wasn't going to work that way with these cases.

2) Garland and DOJ did little on these cases before others picked up the ball ..
again, solid evidence and testimony says, "Not the way it happened."

brush

(58,570 posts)
4. Garland failed miserably. I place him with Barr and even Mitchell as the worst AGs in recent history.
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 12:46 PM
Jan 16

Period. He had four years and didn't prosecute the traitor president's crimes we all way in real time on TV. And now the traitor is about to ascend to head the government he tried to overthrow. Irony is not dead. It's right before us.

End of story.

LeftInTX

(31,840 posts)
9. I know...
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 01:17 PM
Jan 16

My opinion of him is pretty much neutral. I'm not a lawyer nor a legal expert.

I sometimes feel like, "What did I walk into"? It's like he's to blame for everything "gone wrong"...

I often think the anti-Garland conspiracy theories got started on 4chan during the Obama admin and somehow persisted and got transferred over to our side......

That's all I can think of.

There are lots of mediocre people in government, yet for some reason he's pegged as "worst of the worst"

bigtree

(90,518 posts)
8. this is the truth
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 01:15 PM
Jan 16

...but it won't withstand the opinionating of people who didn't and won't bother to read anything to determine the facts of the investigation.

Such laziness, and dishonesty with all of the ire directed at the people who were working through courts packed with republican judges and justices who were in complete control over the scheduling of hearings in their courtrooms.

And appeals didn't all run concurrently, making the process of making evidence collected as early as 2021 available to the grand juries which the federal government relies on to recommend charges stretch out for years.

There just wasn't a viable case ready to be presented to the grand jury in the period most critics claim DOJ should have moved to court. It's an absurd reading of events and the legal process, but stupidity and ignorance seems to trump everything these days.

Good for Litman for telling the truth in a community of misplaced blame which lets all of the judges and justices serving as Trump defense agents off of the hook. I'm sure they appreciate all of the misdirection away from their own complicity in keeping Trump from trial before we voted.

People should read the report and stop these dishonest attacks on the AG which are contradicted completely in Jack Smith's final estimation of the investigation and prosecution.

Litman recognized that continuing the lies about some inaction by Garland requires a complete disassociation from the facts outlined in the final SC report.

lees1975

(6,201 posts)
11. Same old excuses, blah, blah, blah.
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 01:26 PM
Jan 16

Not buying it. This is an Attorney General of the United States. Yes, if they'd have gotten pushy, with the influence of the President behind it, it might have looked political. But I'd rather have it appear political but be justice deserved, than to put that fat assed orange headed buffoon back into the White House. The fact that this could even happen is a symptom of a huge failure in our justice system, with too many built-in delays for those who can afford attorneys to find the weak points. The Attorney General should not have been stopped by that.

So they're going to go down defending a flawed and corrupt system.

Jilly_in_VA

(11,407 posts)
12. I'm sorry, but
Thu Jan 16, 2025, 01:35 PM
Jan 16

he was too slow and deliberate, more befitting the Supreme Court Justice he was supposed to be before McTurtle derailed his nomination. I hold him responsible, at least in part, for the orange slime's evasion of accountability.

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