# F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190
**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:** 40
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/781 "2025-01-07T19:04:28Z")
And now strongly confirmed for those who still think Garland did anything close to an adequate job or was capable of doing so.
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### Author:  [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/782 "2025-01-07T19:32:00Z")
The thread above here is really something now it is officially confirmed Garland was always just dragging his feet, never even contemplating doing his job.
A true masterclass in demonstrating how the Dunning-Kruger effect works.
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### Author:  [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/783 "2025-01-07T19:59:02Z")
This has me thinking that if McConnell had let the appointment to SCOTUS happen Garland could have been the Obama equivalent to GHW Bush’s appointment of David Souter.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/784 "2025-01-09T14:20:50Z")
If they’d known how worthless he is, they’d never have fought his nomination.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/785 "2025-01-09T18:31:22Z")
So why the hell didn’t Biden fire the guy and put someone more effective in there when it became obvious that Garland was just dragging his feet?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/786 "2025-01-09T18:48:28Z")
Biden did a lot of good things in office but he made some critical mistakes and this was one of them.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/787 "2025-01-09T22:50:15Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> So why the hell didn’t Biden fire the guy and put someone more effective in there when it became obvious that Garland was just dragging his feet?
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Biden did a lot of good things in office but he made some critical mistakes and this was one of them. .
Biden and Garland have a lot in common, temperamentally. They like to define themselves as defenders of the traditional order, but actually they are each obsessed with avoiding criticism.
When you do _something_, you get criticized. Much safer to do nothing. Or at least nothing that could effect actual change. Just look busy and speak in a Very Stern Voice about doing things according to the law (and/or For the American People): that’s the key.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/788 "2025-01-12T20:28:18Z")
Can anyone explain why Merrick Garland is **still** giving deference to Aileen Cannon in the matter of the release of the Jack Smith reports, particularly the Jan. 6 one?
> [@](#):
>
> …The government said in their filing that the Jan. 6 volume makes two references to the classified documents investigation, but those references do not mention any conduct, evidence or charges against the co-defendants. The government told Cannon they will provide her with those references for review in a sealed court filing.
> Cannon, who last year dismissed the classified documents case after deeming Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, had asked the DOJ for that information after the Justice Department, in a court filing Saturday, argued she had no further jurisdiction to continue to weigh in on the release of the Jan. 6. volume of Smith’s report after the DOJ successfully appealed her initial injunction to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. …
???
> **[DOJ continues to press for release of Jack Smith's report on Trump...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-orders-doj-respond-trump-defendants-allegations-smith/story?id=117585664)**
>
> In a series of weekend court filings, the DOJ continued to press for the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his investigations into Donald Trump.
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### Author:  [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/789 "2025-01-12T20:58:49Z")
What team do you think Garland is playing for?
If you answer that question a lot of his behavior is a lot more logical.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/790 "2025-01-12T21:41:33Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> Can anyone explain why Merrick Garland is **still** giving deference to Aileen Cannon in the matter of the release of the Jack Smith reports, particularly the Jan. 6 one?
I doubt it.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/791 "2025-01-13T22:14:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I doubt it.
Heh.
More developments today, as most may know:
> **[Jack Smith's report on Trump election interference set for release after...](https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/cannon-jack-smith-trump-report-jan-6-rcna187456)**
>
> However, the federal judge continued to block the classified documents case portion of the special counsel's final report.
I really do NOT want to try holding my breath for this release. At this point we seem to be in “Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick” territory.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/792 "2025-01-21T14:30:33Z")
> **[Merrick Garland exits with his record under scrutiny and the Justice...](https://apnews.com/article/merrick-garland-attorney-general-justice-department-trump-60c88659f66e25605459f1ebb2689c35)**
>
> Attorney General Merrick Garland came in with a mission to calm the waters at the Justice Department and restore its reputation for independence after four turbulent years during Donald Trump's presidency.
_"Merrick Garland has not, I think, been a very effective public defender of the integrity and impartiality of the Department of Justice,” Andrew Kent, a Fordham University law school professor_
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### Author:  [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/793 "2025-01-21T15:34:43Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> …impartiality…
It’s unclear to me what this Fordham University Law professor’s claim of an apparent lack of impartiality is.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/794 "2025-01-21T16:57:31Z")
Frequently siding with Trump maybe?
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/795 "2025-01-21T22:44:39Z")
That’s usually the way "impartial "gets defined in practice; siding with the rich and right wing.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/796 "2025-01-21T22:47:04Z")
No, the opposite, if you read the article. Which is batshit bonkers. That professor was claiming that Garland politicized the justice system by going after Trump.
Here is this guy, Andrew Kent:
[https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law/faculty/directory/full-time/andrew-kent/](https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law/faculty/directory/full-time/andrew-kent/)
And he’s basically saying that Trump should have been untouchable.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2025, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/797 "2025-05-23T01:47:47Z")
I just want to bump this thread with a hearty “Fuck You” to Merrick Garland for being such a piece of shit slowass.
YOU HAD ONE JOB
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/798 "2025-05-23T22:26:09Z")
Despite all the ‘but he did all he could!!1!!!’ responses that this will, no doubt, generate, I have to say: I can’t disagree.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/799 "2025-05-23T22:37:01Z")
In the list of those top Democrats (or their officials) who are most responsible for the current shit show, Garland has to be a top-3 pick.
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/800 "2025-05-24T04:31:19Z")
Yes, while the fascists are actively dismantling our country, it’s useful to determine exactly how complicit each of our allies is.
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