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Report: Biden to pick Merrick Garland for AG
President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Judge Merrick Garland to serve as United States attorney general, two people familiar with knowledge of the decision told Politico in a report published Wednesday afternoon.
Garland, a political moderate, is most well known for being President Barack Obama’s pick in 2016 to replace Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia after he passed away. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, blocked confirmation hearings on Garland’s nomination, holding out until President Donald Trump was elected later that year in November.
Ultimately, Trump successfully appointed Neil Gorsuch, an originalist, to the Supreme Court, followed by two other originalist justices: Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. These appointments will most certainly leave conservatives with a strong grip on the court for the decades after Trump soon leaves office.
Depending on if Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff beats Sen. David Perdue (R) in his Senate runoff election in Georgia, which Ossoff is overwhelmingly favored to win, Democrats will gain a majority in the upper chamber, with control over 50 of the 100 seats in the upper chamber and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote. If Republicans unexpectedly maintain their Senate majority, Garland, a source of ire for conservatives, would likely have a brutal confirmation process.
Garland, who has been serving as the chief judge on the crucial United States Court of Appeals in D.C., will head the U.S. Department of Justice if successfully confirmed by the U.S. Senate, beating out Alabama Sen. Doug Jones (D) and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates for Biden’s nomination. No replacement for Garland on the appellate court has been announced.
Politico reports that, in a GOP-controlled Senate, Jones was seen as the easiest person to get confirmed because of his strong relationships with Republicans. Meanwhile, the report says that Garland was accordingly viewed as a risk because of a foreseen challenge of confirming a replacement for him on the D.C. appellate court.
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
In a significant development, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was indicted on Thursday on federal gun charges as part of Special Counsel David Weiss’ ongoing investigation. The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden made false statements during the purchase of a firearm, among other charges.
The charges against Hunter Biden include:
• Making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm
• Making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer
•Possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance
According to the indictment, the alleged incident occurred on or about October 12, 2018, in the District of Delaware. Hunter Biden is accused of knowingly making a false and fictitious written statement during the acquisition of a Colt Cobra 38SPL Revolver. According to reports from Fox News, the statement, submitted on Form 4473, falsely certified that he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, or controlled substance.
Furthermore, the indictment further states that between October 12, 2018, and October 23, 2018, in the District of Delaware, Hunter Biden knowingly possessed the same firearm despite being an unlawful user of and addicted to controlled substances. This marks the first set of charges brought by Special Counsel David Weiss against Hunter Biden since being granted special counsel status.
The investigation came to public attention when it was reported by Fox News in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018 involving a gun owned by Hunter Biden.
Reports state that, Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s late son, Beau, who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, discarded the gun. Hunter’s gun was thrown away in a dumpster near a market, located close to a school. It was subsequently revealed that Hunter Biden had purchased a gun earlier that same month.
Hunter Biden’s legal troubles do not end with the gun charges. Earlier in July, an original plea agreement collapsed, which would have seen him plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts for willful failure to pay federal income tax, thus avoiding jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation and related matters. The White House has declined to comment on these developments, which continue to draw significant public and media attention.
Follow Alexander Carter on Twitter @AlexCarterDC for more!
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