Attorney General Merrick Garland has been accused of countless crimes. And Republicans aren’t going to let him get away with it.
And you have to watch Republicans grill Merrick Garland in this stunning Senate hearing.
The DOJ led by Merrick Garland has been used as a force for furthering Joe Biden’s agenda.
Under his watch, the FBI raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last year, an uheard of political targeting.
Pro-lifers have also been a target of Garland’s, with many, like Catholic activist Mark Houck, being round up and taken away at gun point in front of their families.
Now he’s having to answer for his brazen abuse of federal power.
Republican senators pressured Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce a federal law prohibiting rallies outside the houses of Supreme Court justices.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) focused on demonstrators holding signs and shouting slogans outside the Supreme Court’s residences following the 2022 leak and issuance of the Supreme Court opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which determined that abortion is not a constitutional right.
Lee, a former law clerk, believes protesters are attempting to influence jurisprudence in violation of 18 U.S. Code 1507, which forbids pickets or marches near a judge’s home with the goal of influencing or hindering the administration of justice.
Mike Lee questions Merrick Garland on the political persecution of peaceful pro-life activists – March 1st 2023 pic.twitter.com/V57i1ChLg7
— The NPC Show (@TheNPCShow) March 1, 2023
When asked if anyone has been charged under the act, Garland said he didn’t know, but emphasized that the U.S. Marshals Service, a division of the Justice Department, is focused on protecting justices and their families and can make arrests if necessary.
“As soon as the Dobbs draft leaked I ordered the Marshals to do something that the United States Marshals had never in history done before, which was protect the justices’ homes, residences, and lives 24-7,” he testified.
Garland stated that 70 U.S. Marshals were assigned to this assignment, and that this deployment was aimed at thwarting the plans of a man detained and charged with attempting to murder Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Garland observed that state and local officials had “similar” authorities, but he did not know what, if any, steps they have done.
Lee seemed dissatisfied with Garland’s responses.
“It is concerning to me when you show up at the home of a public official. You’re sending the message of implicit violence,” Lee said. “You’re sending the message, ‘We know where you sleep.’ ‘We know where you and your family are most vulnerable.’”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) brought up the matter of shielding Supreme Court justices again during another round of questions. Cruz questioned the attorney general point blank if protesting outside the home of a judge with with the aim of influencing that judge in a pending case is a federal criminal. The answer, according to Garland, is “yes.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and AG Garland go back and forth over protesters outside SCOTUS justices’ homes.
Cruz: “How did you choose not to enforce this statute?”
Garland: “The marshals on scene …”
Cruz: “Marshals don’t make that decision.”
Garland: “They do make the decision!” pic.twitter.com/FlPLy8etU3
— The Recount (@therecount) March 1, 2023
Cruz became combative during the exchange, accusing the Justice Department and Garland of passivity while “extremist groups” communicated personal information not only about the justices, but also members of their families.
“Your failure to act to protect the safety of the justices and their families was an obvious product of political bias!” Cruz stated.
Garland denied any political bias and stated that he did not stand by quietly while the justices were being protected.
Stay tuned to DC Daily Journal.
