A recent Rasmussen Reports survey has found that a majority of Americans believe Attorney General Merrick Garland should be held accountable for his handling of President Joe Biden’s classified document scandal. By a 47%-31% margin, voters think Garland is guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to release recordings of Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.
The survey also revealed that 44% of voters believe Garland should be sent to prison, while 35% do not. The view is somewhat bipartisan, with 62% of Republicans wanting to see Garland removed from office and sent to jail, compared to 34% of Democrats and 37% of independents.
Garland has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that his Justice Department is not targeting former President Donald Trump or his allies. However, Trump advisers have accused the Biden administration of using federal legal resources to attack Trump and have coined the phrase “lawfare” to describe their allegations.
The House recently voted to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to hand over the recordings of Biden’s interviews with Hur, who was investigating allegations that Biden took classified documents from the White House. Hur’s report noted that Biden often mumbled and confused events during his interviews, and that the special counsel’s team believed a jury would sympathize with Biden due to his age and perceived mental problems.
Despite these findings, Garland’s Justice Department is unlikely to investigate and prosecute him on the contempt charges, leading to GOP claims that the department is singling out Republicans for prosecution while giving Democrats a free pass.
