# F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190 "2022-07-19T06:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/361 "2022-10-31T16:13:29Z")
> GOP aides and strategists warn there’s a risk of political violence in response to any indictment against Trump. The former president warned last month that if the Department of Justice indicts him, “you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.” > > “I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it,” he warned. I actually agree with you for once Trump. The people of the United States won’t stand for political violence in your name. I also believe that the Republicans rallying around Trump in the case of indictment will be the death knell for the party. I’m interested in how the political parties will work out in a post-Republican US. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/362 "2022-11-01T01:32:14Z")
It should be the death knell for that criminal enterprise, but sadly it’ll never be. It’s far too entrenched in our society now for it to ever go away or be diminished. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/363 "2022-11-19T00:08:25Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I also believe that the Republicans rallying around Trump in the case of indictment will be the death knell for the party. Now more than ever this looks like a speculation (shared by many) that will never be tested by real-world events. Newly-appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith has a reputation as a tough guy–but the decision as to whether or not to indict Trump (or Meadows or Ron Johnson or any of them) does not rest with him. It still rests with Merrick Garland. Which would seem to make the ‘this provides an extra layer against accusations of DOJ partisanship’ rather moot. (Yes, I’m aware that the SC rules require Garland to notify Congress if he wants to stop Smith from taking actions to which he objects, but who believes that in the eyes of the nation this actually confers any de-politicizing value of any kind?) NPR says: > [@](#): > > …“I am not going to partake in it,” Trump said. … –A position likely to be echoed by all relevant GOP witnesses. Gosh, there will be LOTS of delays, won’t there!?! This newly-added layer of process could take months…or even years!!! Isn’t it exciting? > **[DOJ names Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee Trump criminal investigations](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/18/1137736663/special-counsel-trump-justice-department-jan-6-mar-a-lago)** > > The department's former public integrity chief, most recently a war crimes prosecutor, will oversee the case of the security documents found at the former president's estate and key aspects of Jan. 6. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/364 "2022-11-19T23:21:37Z")
The New York Times reports: > [@](#): > > Mr. Smith will take on the role of special counsel **after leaving his current position** as a specialist prosecutor based in The Hague investigating war crimes. **He will remain in the Netherlands for some time** , according to the Justice Department, in order recover from a recent bicycle accident. > **[Who Is Jack Smith, the New Special Counsel? (Published 2022)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump.html)** > > Mr. Smith will take on the role of special counsel after leaving his current position as a specialist prosecutor based in The Hague investigating war crimes. This is in contrast to a statement made by Merrick Garland during his 18 November announcement of the appointment of the Special Counsel: > [@](#): > > Mr. Smith will begin his work as special counsel immediately and will be returning to the United States from the Hague. _Very_ careful wording from Garland: \*\*Yes, the _appointment_ begins immediately \*\*Yes, at some future point, we can probably assume, Smith “will be returning to the United States from the Hague.” _When?_ Who can say? Disingenuous. > my bolding in the NYT quote ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/365 "2022-11-19T23:35:59Z")
Being in another country, and even convalescing from an accident are not barriers to beginning to work immediately. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/366 "2022-11-20T00:59:00Z")
Correct. There’s no doubt a ton of documents he’ll need to go through, which he can do while he’s recovering, and with Zoom he can consult face-to-face with anyone in the DoJ he needs to. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/367 "2022-11-20T01:09:33Z")
You happily ignored the whole “recovering from a recent bicycle accident” in your recreational bullshit. Garland isn’t the disingenuous one here. You are. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/368 "2022-11-20T01:16:18Z")
I wonder if he got the news before or after his accident. If it was after, I’m mildly amused thinking of him laid up in some bed, letting the painkillers take effect, when the Attorney General of the United States of America calls… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/369 "2022-11-20T23:28:59Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > You happily ignored the whole “recovering from a recent bicycle accident” in your recreational bullshit. Garland isn’t the disingenuous one here. You are. What are you talking about? The “recent bicycle accident” is specifically mentioned in the post to which you reply. > > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Being in another country, and even convalescing from an accident are not barriers to beginning to work immediately. Just sayin’. You may have missed this part of the NYT report: > [@](#): > > Mr. Smith will take on the role of special counsel **after leaving his current position** … _He has not yet left his current job._ That might be seen by reasonable people as complicating the “immediate” beginning of “his work as special counsel,” as Garland disingenuously put it. > my bolding in the NYT quote, linked here again: > **[Who Is Jack Smith, the New Special Counsel? (Published 2022)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump.html)** > > Mr. Smith will take on the role of special counsel after leaving his current position as a specialist prosecutor based in The Hague investigating war crimes. You know, if Smith is able to do this new job full-time along with his current (presumably full-time) job, while hundreds of miles away from the USA and while dealing with the complications of recovering from surgery, that’s wonderful, and I would salute him. I just find Garland’s presentation of this information to be somewhat lacking. It seems as though the information (Smith is still on another job; still in Europe; still dealing with injuries) was readily available; for example, here’s the WaPo: > [@](#): > > … Though the special counsel appointment begins immediately, Smith was not at Friday’s announcement, due to a recent bike accident that required knee surgery… > **[Garland names special counsel for Trump Mar-a-Lago, 2020 election probes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/18/justice-trump-garland-special-counsel/)** > > Jack Smith, currently a war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, was tapped to handle politically sensitive cases days after Donald Trump announces he will again seek the presidency. Why didn’t the AG share all this at the announcement? Again, if Smith comes through, within a few weeks, with recommendations that fit the Facts and the Law (which would indicate to many that Trump should be indicted and that all the evidence supporting such a conclusion is currently in the possession of the DOJ), then all the deficiencies of Garland’s announcement will be moot. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/370 "2022-11-21T01:58:25Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The “recent bicycle accident” is specifically mentioned in the post to which you reply. No, you skipped over it to imply he was staying to continue in his current position until some unknown point in the future. Jack Smith has already resigned his post, and is staying in-country to rehab. Not to continue in his current position, but to become healthy enough to travel. Sit on a fucking cactus, jackass. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > He has not yet left his current job. Yes he has. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/371 "2022-11-21T03:36:10Z")
Sherrerd has had it out for Garland this entire thread. Garland could lock up Trump tomorrow and that would still be something weak and impotent. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/372 "2022-11-21T21:58:36Z")
He is not the only one that thinks Garland is not going after Trump. Not because I don’t want him to, I would be ecstatic to admit I’m wrong. It is just that Garland/DoJ has had all the evidence they’re ever going to need/get for months if not years. - Mueller showed the Russian thing. - the Ukraine thing is documented extensively. - there has been a I don’t know how many days long presentation by the J6 committee. - he got boxes of misappropriated documents. Take your pick, or pursue them all at once (flood the zone with legitimate prosecution:) ) Garland hasn’t taken real steps on any of that. [We’ll leave his motivation out of it, but I’ll stipulate I don’t believe the lack of action is malicious, incompetence or a lack of courage] At this point I feel it is fair to say that the evidence points to “Garland is not going after Trump”. And that to construe the appointment of Smith as a move to expedite prosecution is wishful at best. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/373 "2022-11-21T22:06:48Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Garland hasn’t taken real steps on any of that. This is total bullshit. > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > I would be ecstatic to admit I’m wrong. You can go ahead and do that now if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/374 "2022-11-21T22:08:04Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Garland hasn’t taken real steps on any of that. This is total nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/375 "2022-11-21T22:09:37Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > he got boxes of misappropriated documents. This is clearly within Smith’s purview. > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > there has been a I don’t know how many days long presentation by the J6 committee. So is anything pertaining to Trump here. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/376 "2022-11-22T01:00:04Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > No, you skipped over it It’s in the post. How is that “skipping over it”? If I had cut it from the citation, you might have a point. As it is, you do not. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/377 "2022-11-22T01:13:06Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > He is not the only one that thinks Garland is not going after Trump. > Not because I don’t want him to, I would be ecstatic to admit I’m wrong. I agree with your entire post (and have said basically the same things throughout the thread). As you say, “I’ll stipulate I don’t believe the lack of action is malicious, incompetence or a lack of courage”. I’ve made similar remarks. The heightened, excessively-emotional reactions of some in this thread to any criticism of Garland’s choices says a lot more about the reactors than it does about Garland or those observing his decisions. A typical response by one of the many knowledgeable, experienced legal observers looking at this latest development: > As with many other such observers, there is nothing of what the obsessive Garland-defenders claim–no “[have] it out for” Garland; no accusations that Garland is “impotent.” When critics have to make stuff up in order to create a case, then their case is flimsy and disreputable. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/378 "2022-11-22T01:28:58Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > When critics have to make stuff up in order to create a case, then their case is flimsy and disreputable. [![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IOX8URVBm-I/VKMNECayWiI/AAAAAAAAgWU/OxwRCUQxMS0/s1600/10830486_603667449760029_1948418627310645200_o.jpg) ](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IOX8URVBm-I/VKMNECayWiI/AAAAAAAAgWU/OxwRCUQxMS0/s1600/10830486_603667449760029_1948418627310645200_o.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/379 "2022-11-22T04:23:34Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > That might be seen by reasonable people as complicating the “immediate” beginning of “his work as special counsel,” as Garland disingenuously put it. This seems pretty immediate. [https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/politics/special-counsel-mar-a-lago-january-6-jack-smith/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/politics/special-counsel-mar-a-lago-january-6-jack-smith/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/380 "2022-11-22T07:28:48Z")
I just saw O’Donnell on CNN. He’s saying Smith has already read the 1400 page report and agrees with everything on it. So maybe he ain’t f’n around after all. Hope it’s true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190.md?page=20)