Bolton Says Garland Must Speak Out NOW to Defend Trump Raid From ‘Pretty Effective’ MAGA-World Attack That’s ‘Not Based in Reality’
Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the “preemptive attack” on the integrity of the Department of Justice after the Mar-a-Lago raid has to be met head-on by a public statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland, despite normal protocols.
Appearing on CNN’s New Day, Bolton was asked by John Berman for his take on the situation facing the Department of Justice with regard to the appearance of political bias in the FBI search of ex-president Donald Trump’s Florida home.
“You’re a Justice Department alum,” said Berman. “So talk to us about the standard procedures for handling a case like the search that happened at the former president’s house. I understand that that’s not a standard case. But in terms of people asking, ‘why isn’t the FBI, why isn’t Merrick Garland out there making public statements about an ongoing investigation?’ You worked at DOJ. Give us a window into what that thinking might be.”
Bolton told Berman that while normally it’s the practice not to comment on active investigations, he thinks that this time there is an “obligation” for the DOJ and Garland personally to defend “the fundamental integrity” of the Department and the FBI.
“It’s a very difficult decision to make. The rights of the people being investigated need to be protected. The overall investigation needs to be protected, but confidence in the integrity of the institution needs to be protected as well,” said Bolton.
Bolton said he is not minimizing “how hard this would be” but that he believes Garland should say something publicly, and “the sooner the better.”
“Because right now a lot of things are being said by a lot of people who know absolutely nothing about the circumstances of this search, the grounds on which it was conducted, and a whole range of other things,” Bolton said.
Berman asked if this would be “the tail wagging the dog” considering that people who “just don’t know anything” are “raising these questions maybe for political points to win?”
“I’m not diminishing the difficulty of them saying anything publicly, but I think the nature of the times we’re in. Forget forget Joe Biden and the White House. That’s not the issue here,” said Bolton. “The issue is former Judge Merrick Garland and the integrity of the men and women, the lawyers, the FBI agents, everybody who works at the department is being called into question. And it’s I think the questions that are being raised have no bearing on reality. But somebody in the department has got to take up the cudgels.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
