Merrick Garland Comes To South Carolina

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United States attorney general Merrick Garland will pay a visit to South Carolina’s capital city this week, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Garland, 71, of Chicago, Illinois is America’s 86th attorney general – serving in that role ever since his confirmation by the U.S. Senate in March of 2021. Previously, Garland was nominated for a seat on the U.S. supreme court by former president Barack Obama.

Garland will visit with U.S. attorney Adair Ford Boroughs as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders during his visit to downtown Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday (September 25, 2024).

Garland’s visit comes as his office is pursuing criminal charges against Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who attempted to assassinate former U.S. president and 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump last weekend. Routh was hit with five counts – attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in the furtherance of a violent crime, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

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“The attempted assassination on the former president is a heinous act,” Garland told reporters this week. “I am grateful that he is safe, and as I said immediately after the event, the Justice Department will spare no resource to ensure accountability.”

“Our prosecutors and agents … have been working around the clock to discover the necessary evidence to ensure accountability,” Garland added.

Not everyone is wild about the feds taking the lead on the case, though. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has made it abundantly clear he wants the Sunshine State to lead the inquiry.

“In my judgment, it is not in the best interest of our state or of our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, not federal law,” DeSantis said last week.

Meanwhile, Florida governor Ashley Moody penned a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray on Monday (September 23, 2024) warning him not to shut state investigators out of the ongoing inquiry.

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“Given all the public scrutiny on the FBI, DOJ and Secret Service, one would think that having Florida conduct its own investigation alongside federal agencies would mitigate public concern regarding the credibility and reliability of these institutions and would be welcome by the federal government,” Moody wrote.

Indeed…

Unfortunately, Garland thus far has offered only lip service to these concerns.

“Our job is to ensure full accountability here,” Garland told reporters this week. “We always seek to cooperate and to get assistance from state and local law enforcement to the extent consistent with the law … and appropriate with respect to the investigations.”

Longtime followers of this media outlet are well aware of our views regarding the primacy of state investigations (and prosecutions) of criminal acts. We espoused them frequently during the case of convicted killer Dylann Roof. The gist? In almost every case, we believe the state should lead these inquiries and have the first opportunity to prosecute violations of state law.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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