US Attorney General Merrick Garland is emerging as a “villain” in the Biden administration, as the president fumes over the damning special prosecutor’s report which accused him of being too senile to be held accountable for mishandling classified documents — and insiders push for better makeup to hide the Commander in Chief’s age.
Two people close to the president said Biden has vented at length about Garland and believes he should have moved to “edit” politically damaging portions of special counsel Robert Hur’s report, Politico reported Friday.
While the report cleared Biden of official wrongdoing, its assertion that he was too elderly and memory-impaired to stand trial has roiled his presidency and sent a jolt of doubt about of his 2024 reelection campaign.
While Biden and his emissaries have savaged Hur’s report as partisan — with many noting the special counsel is a longtime Republican and Trump-era holdover — they have publicly held their fire on Garland. The Attorney General himself has been noticeably quiet since the report was released.
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Joe Biden and Merrick Garland arriving for Medal of Valor ceremony. AFP via Getty Images
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Team Biden is frustrated by Merrick Garland’s handling of special counsel Robert Hur. REUTERS
“What Democrats do is they bend over backwards not to look partisan, and then they end up hiring people that are partisan but in the other direction,” one Biden donor told the news outlet. “There’s no question in my mind that the villain here is Merrick Garland.”
If Garland had redacted Hur’s report, he would have been required to explain the changes to Congress, according to Politico.
Insiders say it is unlikely Garland would return as Attorney General, should Biden win a second term. The president has been cross with Garland for years, particularly over the years-long Justice Department probe of his son, Hunter, the sources told Politico.
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President Biden has said he believes Merrick Garland should have edited out parts of the special counsel report. AP
The Hur report has also left White House insiders scrambling to contain the fallout, and probing for ways to allow the 81-year-old president to sidestep questions about his age.
The White House has been flooded with advice from Democratic consultants and operatives suggesting the president reimagine his makeup routine, change his lighting and appear at more events seats to avoid his trademark shuffle, CNN reported.
Garland has faced scrutiny by Republicans over his handling of the Hunter Biden probe. Multiple whistleblowers have now come forward to insist the DOJ improperly interceded to spare the younger Biden from punishment for a host of alleged crimes.
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