It seems Washington Republicans can’t get their mind off Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s pick in 2016 to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
I guess we should be thankful the Republican Senate didn’t cave in and agree to confirm Garland before the presidential election.
But, since then, it seems every day another Republican senator volunteers Garland as a replacement for James Comey as FBI director.
I can understand anything Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does. He’s an establishment guy all the way. But Sen. Mike Lee? What is that about?
Garland is a loyal Democrat – one with close ties to former Deputy Attorney General Jaime Gorelick under Bill Clinton. Does anyone remember Gorelick? She was the mastermind of the policy that created a wall between the FBI and other intelligence agencies on terrorist threats – one of the reasons no one connected the dots leading up to the catastrophe of 9/11. To ensure she never got the blame, she was then appointed to co-author the report of the 9/11 Commission.
In fact, what Garland is most well-known for is the investigation he led into the other big terrorist attack – the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It was Gorelick, his college buddy, who appointed him to that task. It was Garland who rushed Timothy McVeigh to be executed even though there was ample evidence of other conspirators and suspects.
In an Atlantic article last year, McVeigh’s attorney. Stephen Jones, had this to say about that key decision: “I think some of the decisions (by Garland) made later on boiled down to a pragmatic approach” not to pursue other accomplices.
Pragmatic decisions not to pursue other accomplices?
Does that sound like the kind of person who should be the next FBI director?
Does anyone in this country actually believe the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing case was a model for how terrorist attacks should be handled? It was a debacle.
In fact, the work of intrepid reporter Jayna Davis, author of “The Third Terrorist,” suggests even in 1995 there was a rush by the government to conclude the bombing was the work of a few “right-wing domestic terrorists” with all other evidence disregarded.
That kind of “pragmatic” approach by Garland ensured we would never know the full truth about Oklahoma City bombing. And without knowing the full truth, 9/11 became inevitable – especially with the teamwork between Gorelick and Garland.
Of course, Republicans allowed that to happen in the 1990s, even though it was all directed by Democrats like Gorelick and Garland. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise me now that many are actually bringing up Garland’s name to head the FBI.
Let me tell you what I think about that: It’s insanity.
Are Republicans like Lee and McConnell trying to win brownie points with the Democrats? Do they really think that will count for something? Why don’t they just determine to utterly defeat their opponents now that they control all three branches of government? Isn’t that what Democrats do even when they are out of power and losing elections left and right?
Are there no other qualified people to head the FBI? What makes Merrick Garland so attractive? Why not someone with actual investigative law enforcement experience? Isn’t that what has made the FBI so effective in decades past? How about getting back to real police work, instead of handing over the most vital law-enforcement agency in America to the “pragmatic” establishment lawyers?
I don’t get it.
Is it a Deep State thing?
All I know is we should not look to anyone who headed the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing to have anything to do with running the FBI – or, for that matter, to serve on the Supreme Court.
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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