Give him hell Ted! Garland looks and acts like a cross between Don Knotts and James Stewart...

It's about time Garland "answer" some tough questions...

Quote:Attorney General Merrick Garland's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday grew heated when Republican lawmakers grilled him on the prosecution of protesters on both sides of the abortion fight.

The Republican ire was focused on two fronts: that the Department of Justice hadn't charged a single protester under a statue that makes it a crime to protest outside a Supreme Court justice's home and that separately a Pennsylvania anti-abortion demonstrator had been charged under federal law.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, shouted that the DOJ “sat on its hands” by not charging a single protester outside the homes of justices in the wake of the Dobbs decision last year, which overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the right to abortion access.

"We haven’t but we’ve defended the lives of justices,” Garland responded, referring to the 70 U.S. Marshals he assigned to protect justices.

Cruz also expressed outrage about the prosecution of a Pennsylvania anti-abortion protester, Mark Houck. He was acquitted by a jury earlier this year for charges under a federal law that makes it a crime to engage in certain behaviors at abortion clinics or "crisis pregnancy centers," which are run by anti-abortion groups that target pregnant young women to try to pressure them to not seek abortions. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said that Houck’s seven children were home when law enforcement agents apprehended him. Hawley cited Houck’s wife’s claim that the children were screaming as the agents pointed guns at the home.

“That is a disgraceful performance by the Justice Department and a disgraceful use of resources,” Hawley said.

Cruz went on to accuse the DOJ of not making attacks on “crisis pregnancy centers” a priority, a charge Garland denied.

"It is a priority for the department to prosecute and investigate and find the people who are doing those firebombings," Garland said, noting one group allegedly behind the vandalism is being prosecuted and telling Cruz he'd be happy to receive more information if he had any.

In a later exchange, Cruz also accused Garland of using President Joe Biden's son Hunter as a "scapegoat" to cover for DOJ's probes into former President Donald Trump. Hunter Biden is being investigated on tax-related charges, and Trump is being investigated for his role in the Jan. 6 riot and for allegedly mishandling documents with classification markings.

“I believe you very much want to indict Donald J. Trump. Toward that end, the Department of Justice has leaked that DOJ is investigating and intends to indict Hunter Biden. The purpose of those leaks, I believe, was to set the predicate for an indictment of Trump,” Cruz said, before accusing DOJ of leaking a picture of classified documents that were recovered in the FBI's August search of Trump's estate in Florida.

Garland noted that the picture Cruz was referring to was from a court filing, and it "was not a leak."

"Leaks are in violation of our regulations and requirements," Garland said. "They are inappropriate and we don't know where they come from."

Garland also faced questions on the DOJ's handling of threats against school board officials. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., accused Garland of creating a "chilling effect" for parents trying to protect their children from Covid-era school board policies. He referred to Garland's decision to mobilize the FBI to work with state and local law enforcement in addressing surging threats against school board members and teachers.

Garland countered that the DOJ was only investigating threats of violence against school personnel and that peaceful protests by parents and "vigorous public debate" at school board meetings was protected by the First Amendment.

More On Garland's Judiciary Committee Meeting

Garland questioned further...

We give politicians too much credit on intelligence. The way the AG and FIB director evades any questions with that fake, "we're conducting investigations and can't talk about it" bullSchiff is easy to get around. The same way pols are able to read and as we've found out even take secret documents to their places there can be special investigations into the going ons of those two entities. Get behind closed doors without reporters or anyone not having the Top Secret clearance required and have these two dips (under oath) tell the congresspeople what they are asked without the privilege of evading the answer. It gets me to see Wray actually have a smirk when he tells the congresspeople that he can't talk because the case is under investigation. He is actually mocking them...TO THEIR FACE. Do you guys remember that FIB guy who was having an affair (can't remember his name) and was smirking the whole time they were asking him questions? These people aren't afraid of any congressperson, they know they are immune with their, "it's under investigation" bullSchiff and they probably laugh about it at the bar afterwards.

These pols are idiots and are just (it seems) doing it for political reasons and don't really want to the bottom of things and get REAL answers.

Son una bola de pendejos!