Friday, June 9, 2023

Donald Watkins: Joe Biden and Merrick Garland have created a Justice Dept. that resides in awful historical territory, with Richard Nixon and John Mitchell

 
 
Corruption in today's U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, is worse than it was under Richard Nixon and John Mitchell, according to an editorial opinion from longtime Alabama attorney, businessman, and civil-rights advocate Donald Watkins. Under the headline "Gauging the Level of Corruption Within Joe Biden’s Department of Justice," Watkins lays out his case against the Biden Administration on matters of justice.

Watkins points to six "indicators" that, together, place Biden and Garland in some historically awful company. Writes Watkins:

Gauging the level of public corruption within President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is fairly easy to do. Just pay attention to the indicators below:

1. The only reason Hunter Biden has not been indicted on tax evasion and public corruption charges is because his father, Joe Biden, is the president of the United States. If Hunter was not a Biden family member, he would have been indicted, tried, and convicted by now.

2. The only reason no top official at the Southern Company, Wells Fargo Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, or First Republic Bank has been indicted, tried, and convicted on financial fraud and/or racketeering charges is because rich Wall Street corporations can buy their way out of criminal prosecutions in Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice.

“Cash register” justice is the name of the game with Merrick Garland. It all boils down to Garland’s mantra, “show me the money.”

The only exception to this "show me the money" rule is Donald Trump's criminal case. In Garland's view, Trump must be prosecuted at all costs.

Furthermore, it is generally recognized in Washington circles that Merrick Garland is the most useless Attorney General in modern history. He always seems to be missing in action.

The failure to hold rogue prosecutors, judges, and justices accountable is particularly galling, in Watkins' view:

3. The only reason Jay Town, the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, has not been indicted on obstruction of justice charges is because Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice goes out of its way to protect crooked federal prosecutors. Garland prefers to accept the hasty resignation of a crooked prosecutor, as opposed to prosecuting him/her.

4. The only reason Abdul K. Kallon, the former U.S. District judge for the Northern District of Alabama, has not been indicted for his shady role in the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme is because Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice is far more corrupt than Kallon. The Department allowed Kallon to resign his judgeship in order to escape a criminal prosecution.

5. The only reason U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has not been indicted for bribery, tax evasion, and public corruption is because Merrick Garland knows that Joe Biden and his family members are far more corrupt than Clarence Thomas. Garland cannot prosecute Clarence Thomas without prosecuting Joe Biden.

6. The only reason federal prosecutor Brenda K. Morris was not fired and prosecuted for her judicially determined prosecutorial misconduct while she led the public corruption trial of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is because the Department of Justice protects crooked federal prosecutors.

In fact, Jack Smith, the special counsel assigned to Donald Trump’s criminal probe, thought so much of Ms. Morris that he added her to the federal prosecution team that tried and lost a high-profile public corruption case against Alabama-based gaming icon Milton McGregor and his co-defendants.

Ultimately, Watkins says the Biden DOJ is reminiscent of an exceptionally corrupt period in American history: 

In our view, Attorney General Merrick Garland is as crooked as John N. Mitchell . . . . Mitchell served as attorney general under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1972.

Mitchell was indicted, tried, and convicted for his role in the infamous Watergate break-in. He served 19 months in a federal prison camp at Maxwell Air Force Base for his crimes.

Today, Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice, including the Christopher Wray-led Federal Bureau of Investigation, is far more weaponized and corrupt than it was during the COINTELPRO and Watergate eras (1956 to 1972). Merrick Garland, himself, is traveling down the same path that landed John Mitchell in prison.

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