Merrick Garland, the Biden administration’s controversial nominee for Attorney General, was just confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The vote was 70-30 in favor, meaning 20 Republicans voted with the Democrats.
President Biden’s nominee for Attorney General, Merrick Garland, signaled throughout his Senate confirmation hearing that the days of politicized Department of Justices are going to continue. Take this clip from his Senate confirmation hearing:
While weighing in on threat of domestic terrorism in the United States, Garland clearly made a distinction between right-wing extremism and far-left extremism.
“Let me ask you about assaults on federal property in places other than Washington, D.C., Portland, for instance, Seattle,” Hawley began. “Do you regard assaults on federal courthouses or other federal properties, acts of domestic extremism, domestic terrorism?”
“Well, senator, my own definition, which is about the same as the statutory definition is ‘the use of violence or threats of violence in attempt to disrupt democratic processes,’” he said.
“So, an attack on a courthouse while in operation, trying to prevent judges from actually deciding cases that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism,” he continued. “An attack simply on a government property at night or any other kind of circumstances is a clear crime and a serious one and should be punished. I don’t mean… I don’t know enough about the facts of the example you’re talking about, but that’s where I draw the line. One is… both are criminal, but one is a core attack on our democratic institutions.”
There you have it. Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists’ billions of dollars in destructive rioting, leading the deaths of at least nine innocent Americans, and hundreds of injuries, does not conflict with our core democratic processes, according to Garland. Therefore, it’s not “domestic terrorism.”
It should be noted that Garland’s answer is so narrow as to be an almost arbitrary definition. According to the FBI, domestic terrorism is comprised of “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”
Therefore, Antifa, radicalized Black Live Matters activists, and other left-wing ideologues who commit violent and destructive crimes in furtherance of their ideological goals is, by the FBI’s definition, “domestic terrorism.”
Garland also compared the aftermath of the Capitol Riots to the horrific Oklahoma City bombing.
“I certainly agree that we are facing a more dangerous period than we did in Oklahoma City at that time,” Garland reacted to a question on the Capitol riots at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Merrick Garland, who was a principal associate deputy attorney general at the time, led the DOJ prosecution of the bomber Timothy McVeigh, who was connected to far-right groups.
“During the Obama-Biden administration we saw the Department of Justice politicized and weaponized,” Senator Ted Cruz commented. “I hope we won’t see that repeated if Merrick Garland is confirmed.”
All the American people can do now is hope, since the U.S. Senate decided to confirm Garland for Attorney General. The number includes a score of Republicans, who ignored all of the warning signs mentioned above.
The list of Republicans follows below:
List Of The 20 Senate Republicans Who Voted To Confirm Merrick Garland For Attorney General
Blunt
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Ernst
GRAHAM
Grassley
Inhofe
Johnson
Lankford
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Portman
Romney
Rounds
Thune
Tillis— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) March 10, 2021
These Republicans are rubber-stamping a highly questionable Attorney General. If he abuses his power, these Republicans also should be held accountable.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.