AG Garland Critical of New GOP Election Reform Laws and Audits, Announces Increase in Civil Rights Enforcement Staff

We reported earlier that U.S. House Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) wanted to “clean house” at the Department of Justice, putting Attorney General Merrick Garland on the hot seat.

Not long after, Garland gave a speech where he was critical of new election reform laws that were put into place in states led by Republicans.

Criticizing some post-election audits, Garland said they have relied on “assertions of material vote fraud in the 2020 election that have been refuted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.”

Garland also announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will double the number of enforcement staff who are supposedly dedicated to protecting the right to vote in the next 30 days.

In his speech, Garland claimed that the DOJ will “do everything in its power to prevent election fraud, and if found to vigorously prosecute” but will also scrutinize “new laws that seek to curb voter access.”

Garland urged Congress “to pass S-1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would provide the department with the tools it needs.”

Many on the left have been urging Garland to prosecute former President Trump including actor Rob Reiner, who accused the former president of infecting the population with the “lunacy virus.”

On Wednesday, Reiner tweeted, “When our Justice Department is unwilling to prosecute a lawless President and our Senate is incapable of protecting our Voting Rights, it’s time to kiss 245 years of Democratic Self Rule goodbye.”

When our Justice Department is unwilling to prosecute a lawless President and our Senate is incapable of protecting our Voting Rights, it’s time to kiss 245 years of Democratic Self Rule goodbye.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) June 9, 2021

In a follow-up tweet that day, Reiner continued, “If Merrick Garland is unwilling to prosecute Donald Trump for Obstruction of Justice, inciting a deadly attack to overthrow the Government, and countless other crimes, the Rule of Law is meaningless and Democracy is a sham.”

If Merrick Garland is unwilling to prosecute Donald Trump for Obstruction of Justice, inciting a deadly attack to overthrow the Government, and countless other crimes, the Rule of Law is meaningless and Democracy is a sham.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) June 10, 2021

Today, Reiner reiterated his stance in a tweet released prior to the speech where he said, “Merrick Garland is dealing with a landfill sized garbage heap of corruption left behind by a Criminal President. He won’t succeed in cleaning it up unless he prosecutes the Criminal who sat at the top of that heap.”

Merrick Garland is dealing with a landfill sized garbage heap of corruption left behind by a Criminal President. He won’t succeed in cleaning it up unless he prosecutes the Criminal who sat at the top of that heap.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) June 11, 2021

Many Republicans had pressed former AG William Barr to do more while he was in office than perhaps what he felt he was legally capable of and now the same thing seems to be happening with the left, but now Trump supporters can only hope that he doesn’t listen to their demands.