Former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker explained to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week how President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is a “two-tiered system of justice” in which conservatives often get the short end of the stick.
Whitaker made the remarks during an appearance on Blackburn’s podcast “Unmuted” while the two discussed Attorney General Merrick Garland’s recent congressional hearing.
“Why hasn’t the Attorney General moved forward with these prosecutions of people that have committed domestic terrorism, have committed these fire bombings, are breaking federal law protesting outside of Justice’s homes?” Blackburn asked.
“It boils down to one priorities and second just prosecutorial will,” Whitaker said. “If they want to, they can prosecute anyone and everyone for crimes. But in these cases, you know, crisis pregnancy centers and the justice’s houses, you know, clear violations of federal law, this Justice department is just ignoring it. They’re not doing the will of the people. And, you know, to your point at the beginning, I think this is a two-tiered system of justice.”
“And one of the things I saw Attorney General Garland really not seem to comprehend is that what is happening, which is the, the people on the right, conservatives, Republicans seem to be singled out, uh, for extra prosecutorial attention,” he added. “And while folks on the left, uh, you know, get away with clear violations of federal law and there doesn’t seem to be any desire to bring them in and hold them accountable to the rule of law.”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Under Attorney General Merrick Garland’s watch, the Biden Justice Department has really created two tiers of justice. And as we had our hearing this week, that became so evident in the way that the Attorney General chose to answer questions or maybe some things that he chose not to say at all. But we have someone who does know how the Department of Justice works and does know the answer to some of those questions. And we are so pleased to welcome him. He’s been the former, former Acting Attorney General, and he is also the host of Liberty and Justice. It is on iHeartRadio, Matt Whitaker. I am delighted that you are joining us for ‘Unmuted.’
MATT WHITAKER, FORMER ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Senator, it is great to be with you and, uh, I was so honored to get the request and I immediately jumped on it cause I’m a big fan and, uh, really I think what you’re doing in the Senate is pretty awesome.
BLACKBURN: Well, thank you so much. Let’s get right into this hearing yesterday. You know, the Attorney General seemed not to have answers when it came to the picketing that’s taken place outside of the justice houses or the protests that have taken place around pregnancy centers, even some of the fire bombings that have happened at churches and at pregnant pregnancy centers. So why hasn’t the Attorney General moved forward with these prosecutions of people that have committed domestic terrorism, have committed these fire bombings, are breaking federal law protesting outside of Justice’s homes?
WHITAKER: Yeah, that’s such an important point and one that, you know, I heard you and others yesterday make, and, you know, I think it’s, it boils down to one priorities and second, uh, just prosecutorial will, uh, it’s not hard as we’ve seen. Uh, they did it, you know, sort of in, in another context, uh, where they could take all the cell phone data, all the, you know, uh, video camera, uh, uh, face recognition software, all the technological tools, uh, that the feds and the DOJ have available. And if they want to, they can prosecute anyone and everyone for, uh, crimes. But in these cases, you know, crisis pregnancy centers and, um, you know, the justices houses, um, you know, clear violations of federal law, uh, it is this Justice department is just ignoring it. They’re not doing, um, the will of the people. And, you know, to your point, uh, at the beginning, I think this is a two-tiered system of justice. And one of the things I saw Attorney General Garland really not seem to comprehend is, is the what is happening, which is the, the people on the right conservatives, Republicans seem to be singled out, uh, for extra prosecutorial attention. And while folks on the left, uh, you know, get away with clear violations of federal law and there doesn’t seem to be any desire to bring them, uh, and hold them accountable to the rule of law,
BLACKBURN: What did you make of, uh, the Attorney General’s response to me when I asked him, tried to drill down with him on why he had not gone after a group Jane’s Revenge that took credit for bombing fire bombing a, a pregnancy center in Nashville, the Hope Clement Clinic. And he said, well, most of the time these individuals did their crimes at night and they were harder to find than people that were out peacefully protesting on the sidewalks during the day. What did you make of that?
WHITAKER: Uh, again, it just, it boils down to he has no desire to get to the bottom of who Jane’s Revenge is. Whether it is a domestic terrorist organization, whether, you know, these individuals are well-funded, well organized, you know, the left, uh, we’ve seen this, uh, behavior several times, you know, Antifa comes to mind. And what happened also in places like Portland and Seattle where, um, you know, this Department of Justice just seems, uh, really unwilling to, uh, go against, uh, political violence. And, and, and, and I understand, and I know you understand as well, the importance of the First Amendment and people’s right to speak, but at the same time, we have, as a society and as a, as a self-governing people decided that there is a line and crossing that line is a federal crime. Uh, obviously, you know, at the Department of Justice, we’ve brought down violent biker gangs. We have, you know, a long history of figuring out these organizations, figuring out who their leaders and members are, and then prosecuting them. And in this case, in the case of James Revenge that you pointed out and you’re questioning, uh, this Department of Justice has no desire, not only to bring those people, uh, to account, but really to stop that political violence. And that’s the scariest thing. If there is a favored political violence, Biden administration, like we’re seeing in the Biden administration, uh, if you’re for abortion, uh, and, and commit violent acts in furtherance of trying to advance that agenda, they seem to turn the other, uh, uh, blind eye and not be willing to bring those cases.
BLACKBURN: Yeah, I think you’re right about that. And not only is it the two tiers when it comes to that political violence, we see it in bias also. And I thought his comments concerning the Hunter Biden, uh, case where he says, you know, he’s not interfering with the Delaware Attorney General, uh, in that investigation, how are we ever going to know what truly happened with Hunter Biden, James Biden, Biden Incorporated, and the president?
WHITAKER: Yeah. And, and I, I, I watched that very carefully. I’ve been, as you know, an outspoken, uh, proponent of, you know, a blind Department of Justice that holds everyone to account no matter what their powerful political, uh, lineage might be, including the Bidens. And I think US Attorney Weiss, uh, certainly is in control of that. But the, the ag was not honest in a couple areas that concerns me. One is, unlike a special counsel, he is still going to have, um, you know, a lot of ability to control that investigation because it’s in the line of command up through the Deputy Attorney General. That’s one concern. And the second concern is many of these crimes require under the US Attorney’s Manual and Department of Justice prosecutorial guidelines, some component, uh, whether it’s, uh, the criminal division, uh, whether it’s, uh, the, um, national Security Division or others to also sign off on that is, that’s another way, kind of almost an invisible hand to control that US attorney, uh, without, you know, saying we’re, we’re interfering. But there is certainly a lot of main justice involvement in this investigation. You could just tell by the way he was not being truthful about where others are making decisions in addition to the US attorney in Delaware.
BLACKBURN: And I think that was, uh, of such concern to us. You know, there were a couple of our members that pointed out the disparity in some, uh, the way people were addressed. You look at the rate at Mar-a-Lago, which ha it has come forward from whistleblowers that the F B I pushed back on that, and then you look at the Biden documents, and he did not, uh, want anybody to know about that. And of course, it appears that, um, that main justice overrode the FBI in saying, go conduct the raid at Mar-a-Lago. And there were insufficient answers around that.
WHITAKER: No, I, I agree. And you know, I think you and I both believe, uh, especially in the Mar-a-Lago case, that there were less, um, less intense ways of doing and obtaining whatever they were trying to get. Obviously. Yes. Uh, you know, president Trump believes he was cooperating, his team was working, uh, to determine what was personal, what was, you know, presidential, what was classified, you know, and sort through the post, um, transition documents. And, uh, and, and you point out, I think, such an important point that’s not highlighted enough. In the case of Joe Biden, when they discovered those documents, the Department of Justice knew, the archives knew, and they all entered into a conspiracy with the, the White House. And that’s all it is. It’s a, it’s an agreement among two or more people. It’s a conspiracy to make sure that that never saw the light of day.
BLACKBURN: And I don’t think we’ll ever know how the media three months later actually, you know, got that story. But that three months of their silence, uh, and their saying, not saying that, you know, we have an equivalent case here, uh, with President Biden, I think, um, whirly was a disservice to the American people, not only leading up to the election, uh, but also just as, um, as, as President Trump was, you know, taking a lot of, uh, political hits, um, for behavior that clearly not only, you know, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, others have done, I still am mystified as someone, uh, that has had a lot of access to classified materials. I’m still a little flummoxed as to how those end up at home or in your office, but, uh, they obviously did in many cases. And, you know, that, I think that points to an important role that I wish, you know, the, the Attorney General would’ve, uh, tried to offer a little more in the solutions as to how we protect America’s secrets. I didn’t see anything, uh, uh, from him on that front.
WHITAKER: Well, we saw it as being two different approaches depending on who you are and what side of the political aisle you are on. And two of justice. And for Tennessean, that is something that, that truly upsets them and concerns them for the future of our nation. Well, you’re going to find Matt Whitaker at Liberty and Justice on iHeartRadio and online, Matt Whitaker 46. I think I got that right.
BLACKBURN: That’s right.
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