For an Attorney General who said that he wanted to restore the trust of the public in his department, Garland has manifestly failed to achieve his goal. It appears that the Justice Department and FBI are now trusted less than under his predecessor, Bill Barr. A new poll shows that 55 percent of the public view the Trump indictment as “politically motivated” and 56% believe that it constitutes election interference. A similar majority wanted Trump pardoned if convicted. …

Garland repeatedly pledged that political considerations would hold no sway with him as attorney general. He has certainly refrained from Biden’s style of divisive rhetoric. However, he has done little prospectively to assure the public that the department is pursuing cases without political bias. He continues to repeat the mantra of “trust us, we’re the government,” long after that trust has been lost with many citizens.

[The Great Moderate Non-Partisan Merrick Garland was always a narrative rather than a reality. He would have been just as big a hack on the Supreme Court as he has been as AG, although Turley disagrees on that point. Garland’s actions as AG reveal him to be just another Democrat progressive functionary, marshaling federal law enforcement to punish parents and pro-life activists while abandoning SCOTUS justices in a campaign of progressive intimidation. — Ed]