(While Quin was on vacation, the Washington Examiner ran this editorial that Quin wishes he had written. June 9)
Attorney General Merrick Garland, media personality Steve Bannon, and former Trump White House official Peter Navarro all have one thing in common: They have each defied congressional subpoenas.
To defy a subpoena is a serious matter. It can lead to contempt charges, fines, and even jail time. But to date, only Navarro and soon Bannon have faced any consequences for it. Even more notably, it was Garland’s Justice Department that prosecuted both men.
But when Congress issued a subpoena demanding that Garland turn over the audio recording of an interview that former special counsel Robert Hur conducted with President Joe Biden, the attorney general in stunningly hypocritically fashion told the nation’s legislative body to get lost and called the inquiry illegitimate.
“We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,” Garland said last month. “To the contrary, this is one that would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations.”
The defiance of this lawful subpoena prompted the House Judiciary Committee to initiate contempt proceedings against the attorney general. But a defiant Garland said he will “not be intimidated” by the contempt threat.
“I view contempt as a serious matter,” Garland said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. “But I will not jeopardize the ability of our prosecutors and agents to do their jobs effectively in future investigations.”
Garland may consider contempt and the defiance of subpoenas to be a serious matter, but his actions tell an entirely different story and reek of hypocrisy. Not only has Garland defied subpoenas himself while prosecuting Bannon and Navarro, but he has actively abetted subpoena defiance from other Department of Justice officials who received congressional subpoenas….. [The full editorial is at this link.]
