Any Garland Defenders Watching Rachel

[Fiendish Thingy]

62. Myths vs. Reality:

Myth:
Trump got away with crimes because Garland dragged his feet/was too weak/was too slow/refused to investigate and prosecute Trump

Reality:
It is indeed a fact that, so far, Trump has escaped any consequences for his crimes.
However, hollding Garland to blame for this is not based in evidence or fact. The claims of “dragged his feet/too weak/too slow/refused” are subjective opinions not supported by the public record and available evidence.
The facts, including those in the famous, but incomplete report by the WaPo, show that a preliminary investigation was launched before Garland was sworn in, and a formal investigation with dedicated staff and resources was launched, despite resistance and obstruction by career staff at DOJ and FBI in June 2021.
As the investigation progressed it encountered resistance and obstruction in the form of Executive Privilege claims and attorney/client privilege claims, which Garland, and then Smith, was eventually able to overcome in court, but the timeline of the court rulings was in the hands of the judiciary, not Garland, Smith and the DOJ.

Myth:
If Garland had only gotten Trump convicted before the election, a second Trump term would have been prevented

Reality:
Once indicted, the timeline of Trump’s trials was in the hands of the judiciary, including all appeals, including immunity, to the Supreme Court. A non-MAGA court would almost certainly have moved more quickly, and would possibly have ruled against immunity, and yet…

Even if Trump had been indicted, tried, convicted, sentenced and incarcerated on January 21, 2021, of all the crimes he was eventually charged with, those convictions would still not have prevented Trump from running for and serving a second term, as the bipartisan SCOTUS ruling in the Colorado case affirmed that only a conviction of the federal crime of insurrection, which Trump was never indicted for, or a congressional resolution, would have disqualified Trump under the 14th amendment and prevented him from serving a second term.

Now, some might say “if Trump was convicted and incarcerated, no way could he have won a second term!”, but that is merely a speculative opinion, not an evidence based fact. In fact, the available evidence tends to refute that opinion, because Trump was elected with the public knowing he was a convicted felon with a history of sexual assault. In any case, the answer will never be known.
Scapegoating Garland is just a way to avoid the painful emotions of the stark reality we now find ourselves in, and a diversion from the challenges that lie ahead, and which will require us to unite in a shared reality in order to be most effective.