These trying times under the second term of President Donald Trump is the fault of two men in particular, writes The Hill's opinion contributor Bill Press.
"With all the problems under this second Trump administration — the economy teetering on collapse, military forces deployed in American cities, the Justice Department preying on Trump’s enemies, America waging a questionably illegal war against alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela, presidential pardons flowing from the White House, Congress surrendering its independence to the executive branch, and American politics hopelessly and bitterly divided — these are also 'times that try men’s souls,'" Press writes.
And while Monday morning quarterbacking on how America got to this point is a popular parlor game, Press points to an explosive new book that offers an actual answer.
"The main reason we’re in such a mess with Trump back in the White House," is President Joe Biden's appointment of Merrick Garland as Attorney General and, simply, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
"In their impressively researched new book, 'Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department,' Washington Post investigative reporters Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis document how Garland failed to bring Trump to justice, apparently lacking the courage to do so," Press writes.
“The vaunted U.S. Justice Department had come to seemingly quake at investigating Donald Trump,” Leonnig and Davis write.
Garland "desperately wanted to avoid being accused of being 'political,' and simply sat on his hands — even when Trump summoned supporters to storm the Capitol urged his vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election," Press notes.
"Leonnig and Davis argue it was right then, immediately after Jan. 6, that Garland had a 'fleeting moment' to hold Trump accountable. He failed to do so," Press says.
"In 'Injustice,' Leonnig and Davis make a convincing case that, had Garland only done his job, Trump would not be serving a second term as president," Press says. "But to be fair, you can’t blame Garland alone. Don’t forget former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell," he adds.
In February 2021, seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. McConnell was not one of them, Press notes.
"As Republican Senate leader, had he voted 'guilty' and convinced nine other Republicans to join him, Trump would have been impeached and convicted," Press explains.
"He could have then been prosecuted without any question of immunity and disqualified from running for office again. But, like Garland, McConnell chickened out," he adds.
So, to answer the question he poses early in his piece, "How did we get into this mess? Blame Merrick Garland and Mitch McConnell," Press concludes.