Attorney General Merrick Garland’s future is in doubt following the release of a unprofessional and highly partisan special counsel report this week.
Last year, Garland appointed Robert Hur –a Trump-appointed US attorney–as special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Hur’s report cleared Biden of any criminal charges related to his handling of classified documents, but took several partisan digs at Biden’s fitness for office, including describing him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Anonymous sources close to Biden told Politico that Garland is partly to be blamed because he should have demanded edits to the Hur’s report including around descriptions about Biden’s memory which they say “went well beyond his purview and was gratuitous and misleading.”
Biden has also been privately telling aides and advisors that Garland did not do enough to “rein in” Hur’s report in keeping with proper Justice Department standards.
The White House has been frustrated with Garland’s actions for some time, but Hur’s report might be the final nail in his coffin. Several top Biden aides told Politico they do not believe he will remain as attorney general if Biden is reelected.
“This has been building for a while,” a senior Biden aide told Politico. “No one is happy.”
Proof of that, individuals who were reluctant to criticize Garland are now openly admitting that he made a mistake by appointing Hur as special counsel.
“I had refused to criticize him but appointing Hur, who is obviously a Republican tool and who issued what I think is an irresponsible report which violates DOJ standards, was a mistake,” Robert Shrum, a longtime Democratic consultant said. “I think Garland will be criticized by historians. We’ve had some terrific attorneys general and some not so good attorneys general. And I think he’s going to rank in the not so good.”
