How Merrick Garland's Caution Protected Trump - Carol Leonnig - America at a Crossroads

[Rhiannon12866]

Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter Carol Leonnig explains why the Justice Department under Merrick Garland delayed investigating Donald Trump after the 2020 election.

According to Leonnig’s reporting, FBI agents pressed repeatedly from late 2020 through early 2022 to examine what appeared to be efforts to interfere with a free and fair election. But the Department of Justice held back.

Why?

Garland, a former appellate judge nominated to the Supreme Court by Barack Obama, was determined not only to be apolitical — but to appear apolitical. That caution, Leonnig argues, may have slowed the department’s response at a critical moment.

The investigation only accelerated after revelations from the United States House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack began surfacing publicly, creating pressure on the DOJ.

Leonnig also reveals how Donald Trump’s first presidency left “scar tissue” inside the FBI and Justice Department — with career officials wary of becoming public targets again.

Was caution a virtue — or a mistake?

This is a serious conversation about institutional norms, accountability, and the long-term consequences of hesitation.

📘 Guest: Carol Leonnig, Author, Pulitzer Prize–winning Investigative Reporter
🎙️ Host: Warren Olney, Radio Broadcaster, host of "To the Point" on KCRW
📅 Recorded Feb 2026

[iemanja]

1. It was malfeasance.