Attorney General Merrick Garland told Congress Wednesday that “no one” has told him to indict former President Donald Trump, after Trump claimed in an interview that President Biden told Garland to indict him.
Garland, testifying before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for the first time since special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in two cases this summer, emphasized the independence of both Smith and the Justice Department. Trump, in a “Meet the Press” interview that aired Sunday, claimed that Mr. Biden told Garland to indict Trump.
“Biden indictments. Excuse me, Biden political indictments. He said to the attorney general —” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker, who interrupted him. “—he said to the attorney general, ‘Indict him.’”
At Wednesday’s hearing, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff asked Garland if the president of the United States asked him to indict Trump.
“No one has told me to indict,” Garland said. “And in this case, the decision to indict was made by the special counsel.”
Instructions unclear. Garland obviously thought his job was to avoid taking any action that could possibly be framed as “political” by dishonest actors so he thought you were cheering him on.
Why we clapped back by choosing the guy that was previously nominated specifically because he was so blandly inoffensive that the Republicans would be shamed (SHAMED!) by their opposition when it was a solely Democratic selection is beyond me. We sure showed them!