Garland under public pressure

He has to give the public something. So...

On his first anniversary as attorney general, Merrick Garland said he's committed to unraveling the conspiracy behind the storming of the U.S. Capitol, in what he calls "the most urgent investigation in the history of the Justice Department."

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"We are not avoiding cases that are political or cases that are controversial or sensitive," the attorney general said in an exclusive interview with NPR. "What we are avoiding is making decisions on a political basis, on a partisan basis."

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Democrats in Congress and even some of Garland's friends have worried he'll shy away from the political firestorm that would result from charging a former commander-in-chief with a crime.

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"We begin with the cases that are right in front of us with the overt actions and then we build from there," Garland said. "And that is a process that we will continue to build until we hold everyone accountable who committed criminal acts with respect to January 6."

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"Every FBI office, almost every U.S. attorney's office in the country is working on this matter. We've issued thousands of subpoenas, seized and examined thousands of electronic devices, examined terabytes of data, thousands of hours of videos. People are working every day, 24-7, and are fully aware of how important this is. This had to do with the interference with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another. And it doesn't get more important than that."

  NPR

And he hopes that will reassure people and quiet some of the grousing.

Garland discussed his wide remit, where the priorities range from price-fixing in the chicken industry to Russian oligarchs financing the war in Ukraine with ill-gotten gains.

Further fleshed out in the article are these points of DOJ attention:

• The rise in hate crimes against Black, Asian, and Jewish people
• Struggling with voting rights after Supreme Court decisions
• The federal death penalty after Boston Marathon bomber decision
• How running the DOJ is different from serving as a judge
• How long he'll stay in the job

Read the full article for Garland's views.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.