On Tuesday night’s NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt opened with an exclusive interview with United States Attorney General Merrick Garland. Instead of asking him about Hunter Biden’s many alleged crimes, Holt decided to pepper Garland with questions about the investigation into January 6, and the investigation into former President Trump and his alleged role in the riots that took place.
“After holding the attention of millions of TV viewers this summer, the recent pause to the January 6 hearings into the attack on the Capitol have turned attention now to the Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to provide what could be the next act in this American, legal, political, and constitutional drama,” Holt said with excitement.
“Let's start off and talk about January 6. We just watched weeks of some pretty horrific testimony about what led up to January 6 and what happened that day. Just as an American, can you tell me what your impression was of what we heard?” Holt asked in his first question during the sit-down interview.
“It is an important part of democracy that every American recognizes the truth of what happened on January 6 and the time surrounding it. I think that this is an important part that we not downgrade or suppress how important that day was,” Garland explained.
The Attorney General added that he thought “the hearings did an extremely good job of reminding us, and for people who didn't know in the first place, telling us how important that day was and what a risk it meant for our democracy.”
Holt then asked, “is the committee offering you anything in terms of an informal road map? Are you learning things you didn't know?” To which Garland replied: “The Justice Department has been doing the most wide-ranging investigation in its history and the committee is doing an enormously wide-ranging investigation as well.”
He noted that “it is inevitable that there will be things that they find before we have found them. And it is inevitable that there will be things we find that they haven't found.”
Moments later, Holt repeated the common leftist complaint that Garland isn’t moving fast enough to charge Trump with a crime: “you said you're moving quickly at this. There has been a lot of criticism, a lot of pressure that the DOJ is kind of behind the power curve here, behind the committee. Not moving quickly enough on what appears to be solid evidence in some cases.”
Garland assured his pals in the Democrat Party that “we have been moving urgently” in the investigation and “it is inevitable in this kind of investigation that there will be speculation about what we are doing, who we are investigating.”
Desperately hoping for a DOJ indictment, Holt wondered: “would a criminal referral from the committee carry a lot of weight? Would it be welcomed by the Department of Justice?”
Not taking Holt’s bait, Garland explained “that's totally up to the committee. We will have the evidence that the committee has presented and whatever evidence it gives us.”
Hoping to calm the fears of leftist Democrats who are afraid Garland won’t indict Trump if he’s a candidate for President, Holt asked Garland: “You said in no uncertain terms the other day that no one is above the law. That said, the indictment of a former President of perhaps candidate for President would arguably tear the country apart. Is that your concern?”
“We pursue justice without fear or favor. We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for events surrounding January 6 or any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another accountable,” Garland responded.
As if Garland’s answer wasn’t clear enough, Holt asked the question again in a different way, “so if Donald Trump were to become a candidate for President again, that would not change your schedule or how you move forward or don't move forward?”
A frustrated Garland answered that “we will hold accountable anyone who is criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer, legitimate lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next.”
Now compare this to how NBC treated Trump Attorney General Bill Barr which was an aggressive interview on every front. Democrats get friendly pressure from the left, and Republicans get a grilling.
This biased interview by NBC’s Lester Holt was made possible by Ensure, Febreze, and Liberty Mutual. Their information is linked.
To read the transcript of this segment click “expand”:
NBC Nightly News
7/26/2022
7:01:52 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: After holding the attention of millions of TV viewers this summer, the recent pause to the January 6 hearings into the attack on the capitol have turned attention now to the Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to provide what could be the next act in this American, legal, political, and constitutional drama.
With outside pressure mounting for indictments, of Mr. Trump and some of his inner circle, I sat down with the Attorney General today for an exclusive interview. The AG dismissing accusations his office hasn't moved swiftly enough to build cases against those at the top of the ladder and telling me concerns over further tearing the country apart would not deter his office from holding those criminally responsible accountable.
Let's start off and talk about January 6. We just watched weeks of some pretty horrific testimony about what led up to January 6 and what happened that day. Just as an American, can you tell me what your impression was of what we heard?
ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND: It is an important part of democracy that every American recognizes the truth of what happened on January 6 and the time surrounding it. I think that this is an important part that we not downgrade or suppress how important that day was. And I think that the hearings did an extremely good job of reminding us, and for people who didn't know in the first place, telling us how important that day was and what a risk it meant for our democracy.
HOLT: Is the committee offering you anything in terms of an informal road map? Are you learning things you didn't know?
GARLAND: The Justice Department has been doing the most wide-ranging investigation in its history and the committee is doing an enormously wide-ranging investigation as well. It is inevitable that there will be things that they find before we have found them. And it is inevitable that there will be things we find that they haven't found. But the Justice Department has from the beginning been moving urgently to learn everything we can about this period and to bring to justice anybody who is criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, which is a fundamental element of our democracy.
HOLT: You said you're moving quickly at this. There has been a lot of criticism, a lot of pressure that the DOJ is kind of behind the power curve here, behind the committee. Not moving quickly enough on what appears to be solid evidence in some cases.
GARLAND: As I said, we have been moving urgently. Since the very beginning. We have a number of prosecutors and agents working on these cases. It is inevitable in this kind of investigation that there will be speculation about what we are doing, who we are investigating. What our theories are. The reason there is this speculation and uncertainty is that some fundamental tenant of what we do as prosecutors and investigators is to do it outside of the public eye. We do that for two important reasons. One is to protect the civil liberties of the people and events that we're investigating. And the second is to ensure the success and the integrity of our investigation.
HOLT: Would a criminal referral from the committee carry a lot of weight? Would it be welcomed by the Department of Justice?
GARLAND: So I think that's totally up to the committee. We will have the evidence that the committee has presented and whatever evidence it gives us. I don't think that the nature of how they style, the manner in which information is provided is of particular significance from any legal point of view. That’s not to downgrade it or disparage it. It's just that that’s not the issue here. We have our own investigation pursuing through the principles of prosecution.
HOLT: You said in no uncertain terms the other day that no one is above the law. That said, the indictment of a former President of perhaps candidate for President would arguably tear the country apart. Is that your concern? As you make your decision down the road here do you have to think about things like that?
GARLAND: Look, we pursue justice without fear or favor. We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for events surrounding January 6 or any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another accountable. That's what we do. We don't pay any attention to other issues with respect to that.
HOLT: So if Donald Trump were to become a candidate for President again, that would not change your schedule or how you move forward or don't move forward?
GARLAND: I'll say again that we will hold accountable anyone who is criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer, legitimate lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
HOLT: How is your department dealing with the pressure? Every day you wake up there is a column in a newspaper talking about what you will do and when you will do it.
GARLAND: The only pressure that I or my prosecutors or the agents feel is the pressure to do the right thing. That's the only way we can pursue the rule of law. That's the only way we can keep the confidence of the American people in the rule of law, which is an essential part of our democratic system.
