During a hearing on President Biden’s 2025 request for the Department of Justice, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) seemed more interested in MAGA gotchas rather than the less clickbaity but more substantive work of delving into the appropriation request.
Unfortunately for Cline, Attorney General Merrick Garland failed to give him the made-for-Fox-News soundbite that was Cline's likely objective.
First, Cline played the conservative victim card: He claimed there’s “a crisis of confidence” in the Department of Justice “created by the dual treatment of American citizens depending on their viewpoints or their political positions or their political offices.” He was trying to suggest that Donald Trump is being unfairly prosecuted for stealing classified documents and refusing to return them when Biden's completely different behavior was not. Never mind that the Trump-appointed special counsel was the one who decided against prosecuting Biden for his inadvertent retention and prompt return of the documents.
“I’m assuming you personally declined to take action against President Biden for his role for mishandling of classified documents,” Cline said accusingly to Garland.
Garland didn’t take the bait. He said special counsel Robert Hur’s report “speaks for itself” and that any questions about it could have been asked of Hur when he testified before Congress not long ago.
