A plea to Merrick Garland for the future of our republic

The Biden administration is enabling Republican lawlessness by refusing to prosecute Trump

Merrick Garland.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

After months of dithering and legal wrangling, the Jan. 6 committee finally came up with some new material: texts from former President Donald Trump's final chief of staff, Mark Meadows. For hours, as a violent mob stormed the Capitol, Fox News hosts, various Republican members of Congress, Trump's own administration officials, and even Donald Trump, Jr. texted Meadows begging him to get the then-president to call off his goons. As Chris Hayes notes at MSNBC, it demonstrates that everyone knew Trump was behind the putsch — he had whipped up the mob, and he was the only one they'd heed.

Unfortunately, this revelation of embarrassing text messages seems to be all the accountability in store for Trump and his cronies. The Biden administration, especially Attorney General Merrick Garland, is enabling Republican lawlessness through its pathetic unwillingness to prosecute Trump and all his cronies for their crimes against democracy.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.