Garland confirms no one who participated in January 6th has been charged with insurrection
Or rather, he sort of confirms it:
But, when asked by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) if any of the individuals who have been arrested for participating in the riot have been charged with “insurrection,” Garland told him “I don’t believe so.”
“Has any defendant involved in the January 6th events been charged with insurrection?” Gohmert asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Garland responded.
Garland is the AG of the United States, the head of the DOJ. He doesn’t “believe so”? He’s not sure? He hasn’t made it his business to know?
The question he was asked was not a deep philosophical one, it was a factual either/or. The answer is “no, no one been charged with insurrection – even though we would dearly love to do so – because we lack evidence for a charge of insurrection.”
But he couldn’t even find it in his heart to say that.
It’s liars all the way down.
I’d say Garland’s deficient organ(s) are located somewhat lower in his anatomy.
There’s no need to equivocate with “I don’t believe so”. He could’ve just said “No”. Unless he’s having memory problems, he would certainly know one way or the other. I mean an insurection charge is kind of a big deal… I think only a handful of people have been charged with insurection in the entire history of the United States.
All I can say is, boy we dodged a bullet with the whole Supreme Court Justice thing with this guy. He’s certainly a nasty piece of work.
He’s certainly a nasty piece of work.
I’ll wager you he’s a standard issue politically-connected lawyer from the Democratic Party stable, just with a tonier education.
He sounds as clueless as Mueller.
By design, I expect.
So why are the political prisoner’s kept in bad prison conditions? I won’t say solitary confinement because I can’t confirm it, but I believe it.
Typo in the headline. (They are so much more difficult to see in large type!)
What was it that Obama or a few of his top minions said. “Oh, I first heard about that on CNN.” B-S.
Hillary got 30 or 40 hours of instruction on handling classified material when she became Sec. of State. When interviewed by the FBI about her massive email lapses she claimed that she fell and hit her head and forgot all of her security training. The interviewing agents requested a look at her medical records and it was denied by FBI brass.
Neo, you closed your post with these words:
“ But he couldn’t even find it in his heart to say that.”
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Mike K: “It’s liars all the way down.”
Armed with the Big Lie, they need a bodyguard of liars to promote their “truthiness.”
All I can say is, boy we dodged a bullet with the whole Supreme Court Justice thing with this guy.
–Nonapod
All hail the Murder Turtle!
Garland is a spineless jellyfish & Cocaine Mitch did us all a favor keeping him off the SCOTUS.
Then why are possibly 600 human Americans being held in Garland Archipelago?
( hat tip at Ace comments but I’m stealing it)
“Garland is the AG of the United States, the head of the DOJ. He doesn’t ‘believe so’? He’s not sure? . . . But he couldn’t even find it in his heart to say that.”
Back when I was teaching in college, a student was explaining to me why she wasn’t doing nearly as well as she had been doing the previous year. An awful lot had been going on in her life. She mentioned first this event, and then that event, and then she added, “well, I got kind of pregnant.”
“Kind of pregnant.” It strikes me as being very much akin to Garland’s “I don’t believe so” when “no” would have sufficed. Sometimes, when some people don’t want to have to say something, because straightforwardly and nakedly saying it out loud is uncomfortable or even painful, such people may soft-pedal it, possibly more for their own emotional benefit than for any listener’s.
In Garland’s case, I conjecture that it was too painful for him to offer a simple “no” straightforwardly, for both the benefit of his own composure and of his own career.
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
When the nation’s top law enforcement official refuses to provide a clear straightforward answer to an unambiguous question in a Congressional hearing, they demonstrate their unfitness for their office.
When Congress fails to remove an unfit officeholder they reveal their own unfitness for their office.
When at their first opportunity, the electorate fails to remove unfit elected officials, they reveal their own unfitness for self-governance.
When a tipping point is reached, that electorate will forfeit the right to self-governance, a right that they long ago abandoned.
“I don’t believe so” is sort of the flip side of “I’m afraid not.” One is trying to soften the admission and the other is trying to soften the blow.
He doesn’t “believe so”? He’s not sure? He hasn’t made it his business to know?
The answer is, as far as he’s aware, no. He doesn’t want to say flat no because something might have got by him. The person in charge of the travesty in question is the US Attorney in DC.
I’ve read and observed a great deal of wisdom emanate from Geoffrey Britain over the past year. Does anyone else agree?
I am fortified – if sometimes mortified – by his shared and shrewd quotability.
As in his post, above.
Art Deco @ 7:26: “… The person in charge of the travesty in question is the US Attorney in DC.”
And Garland’s answer shows that he was careful not to ask that person to update him on the charges against any of the defendants from the J6 event. Because the last thing that Garland wanted, going into that hearing, was to be in possession of the information that Jim Jordan and his fellow Senators were obviously keen to get. His studied ignorance was the response least damaging to himself and his team, so of course he took it. He looked utterly incompetent but he didn’t get caught in a lie direct. The point is to provide maximum fog and minimal accountability, and Garland just proved that he was a stellar pick, probably better than Sessions or Barr.
You don’t always have a granular knowledge of what your subordinates are doing, nor should you. I wouldn’t make much of his response. The problem here is the behavior of the judges, the prosecutors, the FBI, and the superordinate officers of the department. The prosecutions are humbug and the defendants have been treated shamefully. The reason for that is the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the DC judiciary are staffed with shameful people. Blow it all up.
Art Deco:
It doesn’t take “granular” knowledge to know whether anyone had been charged with insurrection for Jan 6th. It’s kind of the most important issue of all, and it’s also very basic. In addition, there have been many newspaper articles saying that no one had been charged with insurrection. Anyone who follows these cases to any significant degree knows it.
“No, we are holding people for our Propaganda purpose only”
Wasn’t going to go over well so he didn’t say that.
I watched the entire Jan 6 event. All those who attacked the capital should get 20 years to life. Trump should get life without parole. Garland is the AG but I DON`T BELIEVE he is personally involved with the cases.
“I watched the entire Jan 6 event. All those who attacked the capital should get 20 years to life.”
So you too saw the black-clad antifa smashing windows at one end and cops letting in people at the other end. Funny how there have only been charges of trespassing for the real Trump supporters who followed the cops in. Not person one has even been charged for “attacking the capitol,” let alone getting 20 years to life, since those people were obviously the Democrat’s goons at work.
Stephen E Hart,
To gve you the benefit of the doubt; you’re a propagandized fool and enabling the triumph of evil. May you reap your just reward.
Stephen E Hart:
Well, when you become dictator, you can just throw people into prison for as long as you like for whatever made-up charges you pull out of your — playbook. Till then, the US still has a tiny bit of adherence to things like evidence and sentencing guidelines.
Stephen E Hart:
And what pray tell should Antifa and BLM get (or have gotten) for trying to burn down the Federal Courthouse in Portland for months or for last weeks incident at the Dept. of Interior? The Ashli Babbitt, swift justice, no appeal, treatment? Please elucidate, oh Solomon, giver of Justice. We’ve seen some of those videos held so close by the DOJ and Capitol Police and it appears that your “insurrection” was calmer than a school board meeting.
I watched the entire Jan 6 event. All those who attacked the capital should get 20 years to life. Trump should get life without parole. Garland is the AG but I DON`T BELIEVE he is personally involved with the cases.
I’m assuming the people in your immediate vicinity understand you’re a person of exceedingly poor judgment who should not be allowed discretion over a Chia pet.
Neo,
In Venezuela, the regime jails political dissidents, but never tries them. They go through the motions, but delay actual trials ad infinitum. It isn’t law. It’s retribution.
The one judge that ordered a defendent released because the law said that he could not be held any longer was herself jailed and tortured for many years. Ref. Judge María Afiuni.
I see little difference here.
Art Deco,
Ok, THAT was funny!
Amazon truck pulls up to the Garland residence, drops off another load of Purina Weasel Chow.