OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is urging Republicans to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland and block the use of taxpayer money for a special counsel to probe former President Donald Trump.
Greene called on the GOP to “refuse to appropriate any funding to Merrick Garland’s Special Counsel and defund any part of the DOJ acting on behalf of the Democrat party as a taxpayer-funded campaign arm for the Democrat’s 2024 presidential nominee.”
In a tweet detailing the plan, Greene said that current House Minority Leader and likely next House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would deny funding to the Department of Justice special counsel investigating Trump. Greene said McCarthy would invoke the Holman rule, a procedural measure by which the House may adjust appropriations legislation to reduce the salary of or fire specific government employees. They may also use it to cut specific programs.
“Holman Rule. Look it up! [McCarthy] is going to put it in place,” Greene wrote. “That means no money for Garland’s politically weaponized Special Counsel. Don’t promise too many jobs! Whoops defunded.”
Holman Rule.
Look it up!@GOPLeader is going to put it in place.
That means no money for Garland’s politically weaponized Special Counsel.
Don’t promise too many jobs!
Whoops defunded.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
It’s unclear whether Greene was predicting such action or announcing that McCarthy had made the decision to pursue such action.
A report from Playbook detailed:
Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND’s decision to name a special counsel to helm DONALD TRUMP-related probes at the Justice Department roiled the political world on Friday. In an afternoon statement delivered before cameras at Main Justice, Garland argued the appointment of veteran DOJ hand JACK SMITH was necessary given that Trump and JOE BIDEN could be facing off for the presidency in 2024. “Such an appointment underscores the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said.
Some good it did him. On cue, Republicans called foul — and rushed forward to defend an ex-president who had appeared to be losing his grip on the GOP following the party’s disappointing election performance.
It sets up a new and explosive spending clash that could easily prompt a government shutdown in the next Congress. Why? MTG and like-minded Trump loyalists will press Kevin McCarthy (or whoever else manages to become speaker) to toe a hard line while Democrats will absolutely refuse to defund the investigations. Watch this space.
A spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 campaign told NBC News: “This is a totally expected political stunt by a feckless, politicized, weaponized Biden Department of Justice.”
As noted by Politico:
Even former Vice President MIKE PENCE blasted the special counsel appointment as “very troubling” during an appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting, according to another good-get interview by Fox’s Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser.”
— “No one is above the law, but I am not sure it’s against the law to take bad advice from your lawyers,” he said. Pence went on to suggest that the DOJ has been politicized by Democrats and to knock the FBI for conducting a raid on Mar-a-Lago to fish out classified information Trump had taken to his post-presidency residence. (Note that Smith won’t only be managing the documents probe, but Jan. 6-related matters as well.)
The New York Times reported earlier this month that federal prosecutors have been “compiling evidence and case law that could be used to frame a memo that would be the basis for any prosecution” against the former president, adding that the Justice Department was “considering appointing a special counsel to oversee investigations of him if he runs again.”
When announcing the appointment last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland said it “underscores the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.” He added, “Mr. Smith will begin his work as special counsel immediately.”
