
It was quite the week for Merrick Garland: On Monday, the department took a position in a pending legal case that was so controversial that many liberals are now openly asking whether he is up to the task of running the Justice Department at this unique moment in the department’s history. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the department, under Garland’s predecessors during the Trump administration, had taken the highly unusual step of subpoenaing phone records for two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee—along with aides and family members, including at least one minor—as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive pursuit of anti-Trump leaks. That revelation prompted outrage among Democrats on Friday as well as questions about why Garland is not being more forthcoming with information about what exactly happened.