Well done to the Republican senators who flamed mealy-mouthed abortion enthusiast Merrick Garland when he appeared before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) excoriated the attorney general’s extraordinary inaction over the past 10 months as pro-abortion protesters have harassed Supreme Court justices at their homes in the wake of the leaked Dobbs decision, despite a federal law that bans “picketing or parading” near a judge’s residence.
“When rioters descended on the homes of six Supreme Court justices, night after night after night, you did nothing,” raged Cruz.
“The department did nothing when extremist groups, like Ruth Sent Us and Jane’s Revenge, openly organized campaigns of harassment at the homes of justices …
“When the same groups posted online information about where the justices worship, or their home addresses, or where their kids went to school, you again sat on your hands and did nothing.
“Your failure to act to protect the safety of the justices and their families was an obvious product of political bias. You agree with Roe v. Wade. You disagree with the Dobbs decision, and the Department of Justice, under this president, was perfectly happy to refuse to enforce the law and allow threats of violence.”
Four weeks after the leaked Dobbs decision, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske was arrested with a gun outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home.
“He said that he came there to kill Justice Kavanaugh because he was enraged by the leaked opinion,” said Cruz. “Now of course, you are prosecuting that individual for attempted murder.
“But did you bring even a single case … against any of the protesters threatening the justices, under 18 USC Section 1507 … or did the Department of Justice decide this law doesn’t apply it if it is harassing justices for an opinion that we don’t like?”
Garland eventually admitted there had been no such case against protesters, to his knowledge, but it was up to local law enforcement, not him, to decide what to prosecute.
Cruz disagreed: “You spent 20 years as a judge and you’re perfectly content with justices being afraid for their children’s lives. And you did nothing to prosecute it.”
Next, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Garland about the disparate treatment of Christian pro-life activists arrested outside abortion clinics compared to pro-abortion activists who have gone unpunished after firebombing pregnancy centers.
He cited the case of Mark Houck, the Catholic father of seven acquitted in January of federal assault charges over an altercation outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic.
Houck was arrested at gunpoint in front of his terrified family in an FBI raid.
“This is a case where a Catholic pro-life demonstrator, a father, was accused of disorderly conduct in front of an abortion center,” Hawley said.
“The Philadelphia DA, who is a Democrat, very progressive, declined to prosecute. There was a private suit that got dismissed. Then after all that, your Justice Department sent between 20 and 30 agents in the early-morning hours to the Houck residence to arrest this guy after he had offered to turn himself in voluntarily.”
Garland said the FBI “disagreed” with that description of the raid.
So Hawley got out an easel and displayed a blown-up photo of fearsome-looking FBI agents with long guns, ballistic shields and bulletproof vests.
Show of force
“Why did you send … a SWAT-style team to this guy’s house when everyone else had declined to prosecute and he had offered to turn himself in?”
Garland said the local FBI “made a decision on the ground that was safest and easiest.”
Hawley then displayed a photo of the Houck family in their Sunday best: “Let’s take a look at the hardened criminals that your Justice Department sent those armed agents to go terrorize that morning.
“Here they are at Mass. Here’s the seven children with Mr. Houck and his wife [who said] the children were screaming, they feared for their lives …
“Do you think it was objectively reasonable to send 20 to 30 armed agents to terrorize the Houcks?”
Garland said the FBI disputed “how many agents, the agents who were there and what their role was.”
Hawley wasn’t fooled. “You use an unbelievable show of force with guns, that I’d just note liberals usually decry. You’re happy to deploy them against Catholics and innocent children … and then you haul him into court and a jury acquits him in one hour. [It’s a] disgrace.”
Next on the agenda was the intelligence memorandum issued by the FBI field office in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 23 advocating “the exploration of new avenues for ‘trip-wire and source development against traditionalist Catholics’ including those who favor the Latin Mass.”
Garland said he was “appalled” by the memo and it had been withdrawn.
But he didn’t know how it was written, or why the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center was its source.
Nor did he have an answer when Hawley asked, “How many informants do you have in Catholic churches across America?”
Garland must have known questions about these FBI scandals were coming and yet had not bothered to acquaint himself with any of the circumstances.
Nor did he apologize, take responsibility or admit wrongdoing by his department.
“You’re abdicating responsibility,” raged Hawley. “You are the attorney general of the United States. You are in charge of the Justice Department and, yes, you are responsible.”
But Garland and his politicized goons in the DOJ and the FBI don’t care about a tongue-lashing on Capitol Hill.
We need action, not words, as good as they are, from Republicans.
Nothing will change unless Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray suffer real consequences. Funding cuts would be a good start.
Truth & consequence
Life has consequences #1: True to form, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed racism and sexism for her historic defeat Tuesday.
She still refuses to take responsibility for Chicago’s skyrocketing crime or even acknowledge her failure.
But Windy City voters knew better.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, fedora lady.
Life has consequences #2: Here we were thinking King Charles was a hopeless wimp.
But actually he’s a silent assassin.
He sank the shiv so hard into the whining Sussexes that they didn’t know what was coming.
In the middle of their “worldwide privacy tour” (hat tip to “South Park”), he evicted them from Frogmore Cottage, the palatial spread near Windsor Castle that the late Queen gave them. Guess they’re not getting that apology.
