Legal expert: Why AG Garland’s 'spectacular failures' are to blame for Trump’s White House return

Many of President-elect Donald Trump's picks for his second administration have been drawing scathing criticism from both Democrats and Never Trump conservatives, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and an anti-vaxxer Trump has chosen to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) to former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (who is Trump's pick for intelligence director and has openly defended Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine).

But the Trump pick that is drawing the most controversy is former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), who he has chosen for U.S. attorney general. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Gaetz would replace Democrat Merrick Garland — an appointee of outgoing President Joe Biden — in that position.

In a scathing op-ed published by U.S. New and World Report on November 18, journalist and former trial attorney Dean Obeidallah makes it clear that he is no fan of either Trump or Gaetz. But he lays out some reasons why he considers Garland a huge disappoint as U.S. attorney general.

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"Let people debate whether President-elect Donald Trump's headline-grabbing pick of former Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general will be good, bad or really ugly," Obeidallah argues. "But there is no debate in my mind that President Joe Biden's chief prosecutor, Merrick Garland, is already the biggest failure of an attorney general in our lifetimes."

Obeidallah blames Garland for the fact that Trump will be returning to the White House on January 20, 2024, arguing that he badly mishandled criminal investigations of the ex-president/president-elect.

"We are where we are today because Garland failed spectacularly to act swiftly to hold Trump accountable for his illegal efforts to stay in power four years ago, for inciting the violent Capitol insurrection that resulted in deaths, injuries, destruction of property and devastation to our democracy," Obeidallah laments. "By turning a blind eye to those crimes for as long as he could, Garland paved the way for the election of a disgraced felon who should not have been on the 2024 ballot."

Obeidallah continues, "Thanks to Garland, Trump is storming back to the White House vowing revenge."

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Obeidallah argues that Garland moved way too slowly when it came to appointing special counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump. Smith indicted Trump in two separate criminal cases.

"Garland's focus from Day One should have been to appoint a special counsel to investigate the former president for an insurrection that everyone saw him incite," Obeidallah writes. "Trump — still ginned up from the January 6 violence — had just spoken at the conservative political gathering CPAC and hinted he would run again. Garland should have realized — as the rest of us did — that Trump was not going quietly into the night."

Obeidallah adds, "Instead, Garland slow-rolled any Justice Department investigation, waiting nearly a year and a half after taking office before finally appointing veteran prosecutor Jack Smith."

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Read Dean Obeidallah's full op-ed for U.S. News & World Report at this link.