Forget passing laws to help Americans, Republicans are all-in on attacking their perceived enemies
Congressional oversight is critical but not when it's used to further one party's political agenda, pursuit of power and to revenge.
Contempt.
This week the U.S. House voted to hold Attorney Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio tapes of Special Counsel Hur’s interview with President Biden. Mr. Garland had already provided a transcript and argues both that Congress has no legitimate need for the audio and that providing it would have a chilling effect on future prosecutions that rely on voluntary cooperation from government officials.
Contempt of Congress is a serious charge. We expect the people’s house to be doing serious business, and we want its work to go unimpeded. Steve Bannon, for example, is heading to jail on July 1st because he refused to cooperate with Congress.
But that was when Congress was working to understand what happened on January 6th. That was during a time when Congress was passing landmark legislation on the environment, infrastructure, the economy, and industrial policy. It was a Congress that worked for the American people, and its investigation into the assault on Congress since 1812, and the only assault by Americans was important work. Nevertheless, Republican Congressman Jim Jordan refused to comply with a Congressional subpoena relating to the January 6th insurrection.
Now that the Republicans are in charge, they have passed no important legislation. Instead, they have used their power to punish their perceived enemies. The House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas despite having no evidence of wrongdoing. The Senate dismissed them. They attempted to impeach President Biden and held months of hearings where their key witnesses were Russian and Chinese operatives. They found no wrongdoing and couldn’t even convince their own members to vote on impeachment. Now they are going after the Attorney General.
Of course, it is fair and appropriate for Congress to engage in oversight. But fair and appropriate are not in the GOP vocabulary. Let’s compare.
Merrick Garland allowed two Republican appointed special counsels to lead efforts to investigate and prosecute Joe and Hunter Biden. One found no cause for taking action against the President. The other just won a gun law case against his son. Mr. Garland has also appointed a special counsel to investigate and prosecute Donald Trump- an effort that is being delayed by the U.S. Supreme Court and by a Trump appointed federal judge in Florida.
When Mr. Trump was in office there were no similar efforts to investigate his family, despite more cause to do so. Consider the actions of then Attorney General Bill Barr:
He misled the nation about the Mueller Investigation and lied to Congress. Before the public had access to the Mueller report Barr released a summary that Mueller himself said “misstated my conclusions.” When asked under oath if anyone had expressed concerns about his characterization of the report, Barr lied and said, “no.”
He improperly intervened in the criminal cases of Roger Stone and Michael Flynn to overturn the judgement of career officials in the DOJ for political purposes. He also decided it was proper for the DOJ to defend Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case.
Barr secretly obtained phone and email records of journalists, Democratic lawmakers, and even White House Counsel Donald McGahn. These actions were part of leak inquiries related to politically damaging news stories. He imposed gag orders on major tech firms to prevent them from informing customers about the subpoenaed records.
He put Michael Cohen in solitary confinement, a punishment completely out of the ordinary for his offense, but meant to send a signal to anyone who crossed Mr. Trump
On the one hand, Merrick Garland goes out of his way to avoid politicizing the Justice Department. On the other, Bill Barr abused his power to further Donald Trump’s political agenda. Yet it is Garland that this Congress holds in contempt. They do this because they see government as a tool of their party, an instrument of power rather than of service. They are no different in this than the corrupt Chinese Communist Party. And if any Americans want to understand what a victory for Republicans might mean, look at what is happening to the formerly free people of Hong Kong.
Speaking of corrupt, Sen. Lindsay Graham, said this week that efforts to pass ethics reforms for the U.S. Supreme Court “undermine the court's ability to operate effectively.” I guess $4 million in gifts to one justice, and blatant partisanship by another do not.
Contempt, indeed.