For reasons that still don’t seem entirely clear to me, 60 Minutes decided to have Attorney General Merrick Garland on for an interview this weekend. He spoke with Scott Pelley for roughly fifteen minutes. To his credit, rather than simply lobbing softballs as typically happens on CBS, Pelley brought up allegations that have come forward from the House Oversight Committee investigations. He addressed accusations that the prosecution(s) of Donald Trump were politically motivated and timed to derail his election efforts. He also asked about the investigations into Hunter Biden and whether the Bidens were being shown favoritism.

All of that was a pleasant surprise, but that’s where the “pleasantness” ended. Merrick Garland answered each of the questions with a doe-eyed “who, me?” look on his face. Pelley appeared to simply accept each answer as if the allegations had been addressed and put to rest. The CBS website performed its job as a faithful transcriptionist, unquestioningly reprinting what Garland said as if the entire matter was settled. It was so surreal that I felt like I was waiting for the flying monkeys and Glenda the Good Witch to show up in the background.

Attorney General Merrick Garland discussed the process behind the federal prosecutions of former President Donald Trump, and explained that the investigation itself determines the timing, disputing allegations they were timed to be detrimental to the former president’s reelection campaign.

Garland explained the process of the timing of the prosecutions of Trump to correspondent Scott Pelley in a 60 Minutes interview that aired this week. “Justice Department prosecutors are nonpartisan. They don’t allow partisan considerations to play any role in their determinations.”

Trump faces two federal trials. One for allegedly hoarding classified documents and covering it up, the other, for allegedly conspiring to seize power after the 2020 election.

On the Trump prosecution question, Garland actually had the nerve to say “Justice Department prosecutors are nonpartisan. They don’t allow partisan considerations to play any role in their determinations.” Pelley threw him a lifeline on that one and prompted him by asking, “The investigation itself has determined the timing?” Garland immediately agreed.

Unfortunately, Merrick Garland is describing the way the system is supposed to work and would in an ideal world. But that’s not how things work now. Take, for example, that supposed business fraud case that kicked off today in New York. (Yes, I know that’s not the Justice Department’s case, but the same principles apply.) Donald Trump has been doing business in NYC for decades on end. He wasn’t being secretive about it. He even starred in a freaking TV show about it. But if it was such a fraudulent, dishonest scam, how is it that nobody happened to notice until a District Attorney who ran on a campaign promise to “Get Trump” was elected. And even then, it took until the eve of the primary elections to do anything about it?

When asked about the attempts to get Hunter Biden off the hook for pretty much everything, Garland brought up David Weiss yet again (while pointing out that he was first nominated by Donald Trump) and claimed that it was all Weiss’ doing and that he’s really not even involved. There was no discussion of how multiple, huge tax charges were allowed to expire under the statute of limitations, the shady plea deal where they attempted to get Hunter permanent immunity for pretty much anything, or any of the rest of the mountains of dirt that have been uncovered. It’s all just business as usual Garland’s version of Oz. Nothing to see here. Move along.

So has Garland ever been in communication with Joe Biden about the investigations into either Donald Trump or Hunter Biden? Perish the thought! Garland managed to almost look wounded at even being asked. Why… he barely knows who Joe Biden is from the sound of it. He probably wouldn’t even recognize him if he walked into the studio while they were filming this.

Pull the other one, Garland. It’s got bells on it. But the evidence is stacking up and you’re not going to get away with this forever. Or at least I pray there’s enough honesty and integrity left in the system for that to be true.

Here’s the interview from the 60 Minutes YouTube feed if you somehow feel compelled to watch it. It really is like experiencing something from another dimension.