It seems like forever ago, but Merrick Garland was nominated for the Supreme Court. It was one of Barack Obama’s final acts as president, and Senate Republicans blocked it. Good thing McConnell decided to hold the line, and this goes beyond his political leanings. As attorney general, the man lacks the strength to make the tough calls. How do you think he’d fare as one of the deciding jurists on the high court? That was the main takeaway from a recent op-ed by law professor Jonathan Turley. The leadership skills are laughably absent at the Biden Department of Justice, with the recent appointment of David Weiss as special counsel for the new investigation into Hunter Biden exposing that glaring defect.
Turley backed Garland as AG, but now the Weiss appointment only shows that Merrick has failed as our top law enforcement official. First, Turley brutally rips apart this special counsel investigation, which might be narrow in scope to prevent Joe Biden from being brought under further legal scrutiny. He said the situation was akin to the story of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson finally admitting that the 1919 World Series scandal was true. He did a line-by-line takedown of why this isn’t a real investigation, not least because Weiss also played a part in shielding Hunter Biden (via The Hill):
The appointment of Delaware David Weiss as the new special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden left many with the same disbelief as that kid in Chicago. This is, after all, the same Weiss who headed an investigation that was trashed by whistleblowers, who alleged that his investigation had been fixed from the outset.
It is the same Weiss who ran an investigation in which agents were allegedly prevented from asking about Joe Biden, obstructed in their efforts to pursue questions and compromised by tip offs to the Biden team on planned searches.
It was also the same Weiss who reportedly allowed the statute of limitations to run out on Hunter’s major tax offenses, even though he had the option to extend it.
It was the same Weiss who did not indict on major tax felonies and cut a plea deal that brushed aside a felony gun charge.
It was the same Weiss who inked a widely panned “sweetheart” deal that caused a federal judge to balk and trash a sweeping immunity grant — language that even the prosecutor admitted he had never previously seen in a plea deal.
That is why many asked Garland to “say it ain’t so.”
The Weiss appointment definitively established Garland as a failure as attorney general. As someone who initially praised Garland’s appointment, I now see that he has repeatedly shown he lacks the strength and leadership to rise to these moments.
Former assistant US attorney Andy McCarthy: "This is a sham. There is no special counsel investigation. There is no Biden investigation. " pic.twitter.com/2waKsYsqAE
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 11, 2023
Andy McCarthy also torched this appointment, noting that a special counsel probe is viewed as such because the lead prosecutor/investigator is from outside the government. This move keeps the Biden investigation from spreading, prohibiting Weiss from testifying before Congress. Despite his pro-Biden extracurricular activities, Weiss tried to bring charges against Hunter twice but was stopped. And we still need to determine what Garland meant about Weiss having the authority to file charges in any jurisdiction, seemingly granting Weiss broad powers that would require a letter from the AG if this were the case. Where’s the letter? Garland could be impeached for his role in protecting the Biden family at the Justice Department, and congressional Republicans should pursue that just as vigorously.
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