McCarthy may pursue impeachment of Garland: The House Speaker has refused to get on board with efforts to impeach President Biden, but he has indicated that he may agree to pursue an impeachment inquiry of Attorney General Merrick Garland if certain accusations raised in recent IRS investigations are true
Impeachment Time Again?
Republican members of Congress have launched a series of impeachment efforts, targeting President Biden, since his second day in office, with most of them focused either on his border policies or financial deals involving his son Hunter. Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) even had a confrontation on the floor of the House, over Greene accusing Boebert of copying her idea for an impeachment resolution.
Throughout it all, the House GOP leadership, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has resisted efforts to pursue impeachment of the president or members of his administration. After Boebert introduced a privileged motion last week to try to get the entire House to vote on her Biden impeachment resolution, McCarthy “encouraged lawmakers to consider the traditional process for bringing such consequential legislation forward,” and later brokered a deal to move Boebert’s resolution to a committee.
McCarthy has also shown little interest in efforts, led by Greene, to pursue impeachment of other administration officials, most often Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas but also FBI Director Christopher Wray. But the speaker did say Monday that, if recent accusations are true, he may be on board with efforts to impeach Merrick Garland, the attorney general.
It relates to accusations by an IRS whistleblower, Gary Springer, who said U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who supervised the federal investigation into Biden’s son Hunter, told Springer and others that he wanted to file charges in Washington, D.C. and was requesting special counsel status, but that he had been denied. Springer and another, unnamed whistleblower have accused the Justice Department of “slow-walking” the Hunter Biden investigation.
“We need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee,” McCarthy said on Twitter Monday. “If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ.”
The Justice Department reached a deal earlier this month with Hunter Biden in which he agreed to plead guilty to charges while likely not receiving jail time for non-filing of taxes in 2017 and 2018. DOJ also agreed to keep a potential gun charge against Biden pending, while he completes a diversion program. The president’s son was not charged with any crime in relation to his overseas business deals, which have formed the basis of a running investigation by the House Oversight Committee.
“As I said from the moment of my appointment as attorney general, I would leave this matter in the hands of the United States attorney — who was appointed by the previous president and assigned to this matter by the previous administration — that he would be given full authority to decide the matter as he decided was appropriate, and that’s what he’s done,” Garland said in a statement after the Hunter Biden deal was announced, per The Hill. He also attacked those who have “chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department.”
Garland has gone on to specifically deny the whistleblower allegations, per CBS News.
“Mr. Weiss was appointed by President Trump. As the U.S. attorney in Delaware and assigned this matter during the previous administration, [he] would be permitted to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.”
Garland added that he was never asked by Weiss to be given special counsel status and that Weiss had “more authority than a special counsel would’ve had.”
Should the House move forward with an impeachment inquiry of Garland, one major question will be whether it touches on the indictment of former President Donald Trump, which also came from the DOJ, albeit from Special Counsel Jack Smith. Supporters of Trump, of course, have argued that the government was “weaponized” against the former president.
Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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