Merrick Garland has impressed me ever since I first heard of him as a man of high principle and of well … patience.
He once was selected to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, but saw his nomination derailed in 2016 by Senate Republicans who decided to play politics with President Obama’s constitutional authority to nominate justices to the highest court in the land.
Garland went back to the DC Circuit Court bench until he got tapped to become attorney general in Joe Biden’s presidential administration.
He now is overseeing — even from some distance — investigations into the goings-on of Donald J. Trump. He has handed off a key probe to a special counsel, Jack Smith, who appears to be closing the circle around Trump. Smith has subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence to testify under oath to a grand jury looking into Trump’s incitement of the 1/6 insurrection.
My sincere hope is that Pence complies, takes the oath and tells the truth. Will he do the right thing? He’s a man of deep faith, so I believe the Bible instructs him to follow the law.
Meanwhile, AG Garland is biding his time in collecting information that will help him determine whether to indict Trump for (alleged) crimes he committed while he was getting ready to depart the White House.
I once hoped for a quick end to this probe. I have changed my mind, which I am entitled to do. I believe it is critical for the AG to get it right. A mistake in evidence-gathering would spell disaster for the rule of law and for holding Trump accountable for the crimes I believe he committed.
Merrick Garland just doesn’t strike me as a gun-toting buckaroo. I will have faith that he will deliver the correct decision at the correct time and in the correct context.
The AG is just too damn smart to blow this gig.