How It’s Done: JD Vance Decides to Play Hardball With Merrick Garland in Midst of Trump Indictment

Sister Toldjah reporting for RedState 

Whenever a political crisis erupts on Capitol Hill like it did during the (now-former) stalemate over the debt ceiling, a general sense of dread develops on the right over concerns that Republican leaders will fall far short of the mark on upholding conservative principles, with the fear being that they’ll choose instead to talk tough without backing it up when push comes to shove.

Those same concerns have resurfaced again in the midst of the indictment against former President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday was arraigned in a Miami courtroom on 37 counts related to the classified documents probe.

Legal experts who conservatives generally trust have provided a mixed picture on the case Joe Biden’s Department of Justice has presented against Trump, with some including Andrew McCarthy, Alan Dershowitz, and Jonathan Turley suggesting in so many words that Trump could be “in serious legal jeopardy,” as put by my RedState colleague Bob Hoge, if the facts are actually as the DOJ laid them out.

Metaphorically speaking, of course, the jury is still out on that one (pun intended). But regardless of how the case unfolds, there is still the issue of the timing of these charges, which as many prominent Republicans have pointed out looks an awful lot like election interference considering that Trump could end up being Biden’s opponent in the 2024 presidential election.

So the question is just what are Congressional Republicans going to do about it? Talk about how unseemly and dictator-like this all looks or take action?

In the case of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), he has decided to take action, announcing in a statement Tuesday that he “will hold all Department of Justice nominations” (bolded emphasis added by me):

“Donald Trump is merely the latest victim of a Department of Justice that cares more about politics than law enforcement. Merrick Garland’s department harasses Christians for pro-life advocacy, but allows hardened criminals to walk our streets unpunished. This must stop, and I will do everything in my ability to ensure it does,” said Senator Vance. “Starting today, I will hold all Department of Justice nominations. If Merrick Garland wants to use these officials to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents, we will grind his department to a halt.”

Background:

-Senator Vance’s hold on DOJ nominations will not apply to individuals nominated to the U.S. Marshals Service
-Senator Vance’s hold will prevent the Senate from quickly approving President Biden’s nominees by unanimous consent, as the Senate often does. Instead, nominees to the Department of Justice will require a floor vote in order to be confirmed by the Senate, which could make these nominations more difficult to approve.
-Senator Vance’s hold on DOJ nominations comes in the wake of multiple reports of the DOJ improperly targeting conservatives:

New York Post: States sue Biden admin over FBI surveillance of parents protesting school boards (Mar. 4, 2022)
Fox News: DOJ, FBI targeting Catholics as ‘violent extremists’ under scrutiny by state AGs (Feb. 10, 2023)
Washington Examiner: Vandalized pregnancy centers cry for justice one year after Dobbs leak (May 2, 2023)

Watch Vance, who was endorsed by Trump and who has endorsed his 2024 presidential campaign, discuss the issue below. Note his emphasis on how Republican politicos “whining” about this issue without taking concrete steps to push back on the DOJ is pointless:

This is one way Republicans can create headaches for our politically weaponized Dept. of Justice until the eventual Republican presidential nominee (whoever that will be) hopefully wins the 2024 election, gets sworn in, and then cleans house.

Others, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), have suggested that another would be to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland (Greene introduced articles of impeachment against Garland in May). But considering that didn’t happen in the aftermath of the DOJ’s targeting of parents and pro-lifers, the Mar-a-Lago raid, and them looking the other way as pro-abortion “protesters” appeared to violate U.S. Code while “protesting” outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices, we’re unlikely to see it now, either.

Still, Vance’s plan is a start while at the same time further highlighting the absolute political rot that persists within the corrupt DOJ.