Seven years ago, Merrick Garland was the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. His nomination to the Supreme Court by then-president Obama was slow-walked and then ended when Donald Trump was elected. With that dream shattered by Republicans, Garland remained on the bench for five more years, then accepted the nomination for Attorney General. 

Since his appointment, Merrick Garland has demonstrated that his failed nomination to the Supreme Court has driven his decisions as Attorney General. Garland has repeatedly said that he and his office are driven by the rule of law and fairness. He said: 

 Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor. Under my watch that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing. All Americans are entitled to the evenhanded application of the law, to due process of the law, and to the presumption of innocence.

Merrick Garland has demonstrated that his claim of faithful adherence to the rule of law is hollow. His principles are guided by politics. He works to bend the rule of law for the benefit of his party, apparently without fear but clearly with favor. 

Over several months, it has become apparent that Garland has been deceptive in his testimony before Congress and, at worst, lied under oath. Garland claimed that he had nothing to do with US Marshals not arresting protestors outside of Supreme Court Justices' homes. That was simply not accurate. Documents showed that the Marshals were instructed to leave them alone unless protestors physically attacked Justices.  

Several Whistleblowers have come forward to expose the Garland DOJ and Garland himself for not applying the law evenly and acting politically. The response to all whistleblowers' testimony has been that those people who are risking their careers are all lying. 

An important part of the whistleblowers' testimony and exposing Weiss’s handling of the Hunter Biden case is that Weiss told the IRS agents and others that he requested special counsel status and was denied that status. That was false. In an effort to defuse the issue and, apparently, play more hide the ball, Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel. It served two purposes – it allowed Democrats to say that now there is a special counsel, and it would, in theory, insulate Weiss from Congressional inquiry. If called to testify, Weiss could claim that he can’t answer questions about an ongoing investigation —a convenient dodge and a win-win for Garland. 

Now, the Heritage Foundation has shared documents with the Federalist that show clear coordination between the Weiss office and the DOJ. How is this significant? The Federalist reports: 

Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, initiated the FOIA request and then filed suit against the DOJ after the Biden administration attempted to slow-walk the production. Howell told The Federalist the emails show that while Garland was claiming Weiss had the independence to bring whatever charges he wanted, Garland was “simultaneously running communications from Weiss to Grassley through the political controls of Main Justice.” “It is a slap in the face,” Howell said. 

Significantly, the emails also call into question the veracity of a series of exchanges between Weiss and Jordan, beginning with Weiss’s June 7 response to the May 25, 2023, letter Jordan sent to Garland. In that May 25 letter, Jordan questioned Garland on the removal of the IRS whistleblowers from the Hunter Biden investigation.

Weiss and Garland didn’t know what the whistleblowers would say before the June 7^th letter. In that letter, Weiss (writing in response for the DOJ) said that he had “been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution…”

That contradicted the under-oath testimony of the whistleblowers. Weiss (likely in coordination with DOJ) followed with a “clarification.”

June 30, 2023, Weiss, in part, wrote to Congress: 

Here, I have been assured that, if necessary after the above process, I would be granted § 515 Authority in the District of Columbia, the Central District of California, or any other district where charges could be brought in this matter.

That is lawyer-talk for being caught with his pants down. Weiss told IRS staff that he was denied authority. On June 30^th he told Congress that he “would be granted” – not “had” authority. 

Shortly thereafter, Weiss was appointed "Special Counsel." 

As the Federalist is reporting, it seems clear that this tranche of FOIA documents produced to The Heritage Foundation is another tip of the iceberg. The DOJ has yet to produce emails and related documents in response to or concerning Jim Jordan’s May 25, 2023 correspondence. The next batch is due no later than October 31^st. 

Although we’ve seen plenty of “smoking guns,” perhaps the next production will produce evidence of DOJ and Weiss political collusion that even Democrats will have a hard time explaining away.