Merrick Garland Demonstrates His Unfitness for Office

On September 11, Merrick Garland marched himself down to DoJ headquarters and threw a massive temper tantrum. He’s upset that people are suggesting that his department is biased (stop laughing). He accused DoJ critics of using

Conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods, efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out, and threats of actual violence.

He added

It is dangerous to target and intimidate individual employees of this Department simply for doing their jobs, and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law.

Garland excused the actions of his employees, while blaming the collapsing confidence in his department on its critics. With that, Merrick Garland demonstrated that he is unfit to hold the office of Attorney General. In fact, he clearly lacks an understanding of professional ethics essential for all attorneys, judges, and law enforcement officers.

Justice system ethical standards don’t merely require ethical conduct. They also require the avoidance of any appearance of impropriety. It isn’t sufficient for personnel in the justice system to be honest – they are required to appear honest. Further, it is the duty of the oath taker to maintain the public trust. If the public thinks Garland’s justice department is biased, it’s his job to fix it, not complain about it.

Without public belief that law enforcement is beyond reproach, crimes will go unreported, witnesses will not cooperate, and juries will not convict. Without public trust, law enforcement can’t do its job. That’s why law enforcement must behave ethically, and must conduct themselves in a manner that makes it obvious. But instead, Merrick Garland behaves as if his department is guilty – shifting blame and resisting oversight.

A Rasmussen Reports poll from 2022 found that 53 percent of Americans agree with a Roger Stone statement that there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden’s personal Gestapo.” At a minimum, Merrick Garland has an “appearance of impropriety” problem in his department – which means he has failed as Attorney General. But instead seeking corrective action – as an effective leader would – he held his employees blameless, implying that they are victims of conspiracy theories spun by uninformed rubes who don’t understand their job. In doing so, he absolved his staff of any failure of professionalism – even though they have lost the trust of half of those they are sworn to serve.

Rather than commiserating with his staff, Merrick Garland would have been better served by engaging with the public to understand the source of their distrust.

Did his department create an appearance of political bias when it never searched the Clinton estate, but conducted an armed raid of the Trump estate – with an authorization to use deadly force?

Was there a hint of corruption when Donald Trump was indicted for possessing classified documents, but Joe Biden was not?

Does the public suspect ideology rather than equal justice is affecting prosecutions when pro-life protesters are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but pro-abortion arsonists are not?

Did people sense the DoJ put its thumb on the scales of justice when a grandmother who prayed on Capital grounds lost her freedom, but BLM rioters who attacked federal buildings were excused?

Did Special Counsel Jack Smith appear unethical when he violated department policy to indict Donald Trump, within 60 days of an election – thus interfering with the election?

Was there a smell of favoritism wafting from the building when the DoJ prosecuted and jailed Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress, yet refused to act against Merrick Garland or Hunter Biden for the same infraction?

If Merrick Garland cared about the collapse of public trust in the DoJ which he has overseen, his speech would have been more like this:

Over half of the American people who we serve think that we are working for one political party. Unfortunately, we have given them cause to reach that conclusion. Our current relationship with the public is unacceptable. We cannot do our jobs effectively with this level of distrust. If we don’t take immediate actions to correct this state of affairs, we don’t deserve the power that the public has entrusted to us.

Effective immediately, I expect every department employee to comply with the letter of the Constitution, federal and state laws, department policies, and all ethical standards. Violations will result in immediate suspension, followed by termination pending investigation.

I am also ordering the following short-term corrective actions:

1. 1. We will not encroach on freedom of speech. All interaction with social media companies aimed at policing misinformation, disinformation, or otherwise stifling online expression is to cease immediately.
   2. We will not treat members of the two political parties differently. I have ordered that all charges against Donald Trump for the possession of classified documents be dropped, and our appeal withdrawn.
   3. We will not interfere with an election by violating department policies. I have ordered all charges against Donald Trump pertaining to January 6 be dropped, and I am terminating Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel.
   4. We will not selectively enforce the law to benefit our friends. I have therefore appointed a special counsel to investigate myself and Hunter Biden for Contempt of Congress.

That’s a speech a true “equal justice under law” leader would give – not Merrick Garland. I suspect Garland isn’t the least bit concerned about his department’s relationship with the public. His address to the DoJ staff wasn’t intended to rehabilitate the department’s image. It was intended to fortify his staff’s resolve, so that they continue their lawfare after a change of administration in January.

Author Bio: John Green is a retired engineer and political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He spent his career designing complex defense systems, developing high performance organizations, and doing corporate strategic planning. He can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.

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