Is the groundwork being laid to impeach AG Merrick Garland for allegedly making false statements to Congress? That’s the signal that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent on Sunday.
For the first time since assuming his leadership role, McCarthy directly pushed the idea of impeaching Garland, citing recent revelations from an IRS whistleblower.
There’s not much beating around the bush there. Obviously, House investigators have to conduct a real impeachment investigation to confirm what’s being said, but it seems as if impeachment is now firmly on the table.
As RedState reported, this is all being driven by statements that Garland made to Congress in which he asserted that David Weiss, the US Attorney for Delaware who gave Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal, was given full authority to file charges in any jurisdiction he wished. Gary Shapley, the IRS whistleblower in question, has directly contradicted that assertion.
After Garland essentially accused Shapley of lying, the whistleblower actually went so far as to start naming the people who were in the room when Weiss allegedly admitted he had been overridden by the DOJ on filing charges against Hunter Biden in California and Washington, D.C. That’s an escalation that has now painted Garland and Weiss into a corner. If Shapley is willing to go so far as to name everyone in the room, giving House Republicans the ability to put them under oath, there is every reason to believe he’s telling the truth.
You can expect every single person that Shapley named to be subpoenaed (if they don’t come voluntarily) and questioned about what was said in that meeting with Weiss. Garland has nibbled at the edges the entire time, hedging his bets and playing coy while Shapley has operated with no ambiguity. Given that, I know who looks more credible to me, especially given Shapley has nothing to gain by coming forward and everything to lose.
There’s an impatience among many on the right that is completely understandable. At the same time, McCarthy and others in leadership need some leeway to do this right. Nothing is accomplished by rushing through an impeachment vote based on a few paragraphs of allegations and Lauren Boebert’s fundraising page. I get that people want this to happen quickly, but a real impeachment requires a real process. That means an official investigative inquiry followed by a committee process and then a floor vote.
With that said, the first step needs to happen immediately. There’s no reason to delay the inquiry anymore. Enough evidence is already out there to move forward. Hopefully, something happens in the next week.
With all that said, will Garland be removed from office? There’s no chance of that, but the point is to make this as politically painful as possible. The members of the Biden administration need to be completely exposed and made to operate in an environment where voters know exactly who they are. Let’s get it all out in the open, and when Democrats inevitably vote to save Garland in the Senate, they’ll own it, lock, stock, and barrel.