Merrick Garland comes out swinging

Attention Palmer Report readers: sign up for our free mailing list here
-----
Note from Bill Palmer: if each of you reading this can kick in $10 or $25, it'll help keep Palmer Report firing on all cylinders at this crucial time in our nation's history: Donate now


The job of Attorney General – officially at least – is to speak through actions, not words. But after the media and the pundits spent the past week beating up on Attorney General Merrick Garland for not speaking to the public about anything that’s been going on with the DOJ, he took the stage today and came out swinging rather hard.

Garland laid out his plan to combat the voter suppression laws that numerous red states have enacted in 2021, which he noted seem particularly designed to suppress the votes of Black people and minority groups. Garland said he’s hiring a bunch of additional lawyers so he can double the number of DOJ lawyers who will focus on protecting voting rights. He specifically plans to target every state and local jurisdiction that’s trying to implement illegal voter suppression.

Garland also revealed that he’s working with the FBI (which answers to him) to target those who try to illegally meddle in U.S. elections. And he made a point of calling for the Senate to pass HR1/S1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Palmer report predicted that the Merrick Garland DOJ would end up taking legal action against every one of these state-level voter suppression laws; there was virtually no chance that Garland wouldn’t fight this battle. But it’s notable that he’s coming out swinging on the issue this aggressively. It shows how thoroughly he tackles things, and hopefully it’s a sign of how aggressively his DOJ will pursue the crimes committed by Donald Trump and his underlings in office.

Attention Palmer Report readers: sign up for our free mailing list here
-----
Note from Bill Palmer: if each of you reading this can kick in $10 or $25, it'll help keep Palmer Report firing on all cylinders at this crucial time in our nation's history: Donate now