Former high-ranking officials in the White House have criticized ex-General Merrick Garland for not thoroughly investigating files related to the notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Neela Tanden, who served as a senior adviser during President Joe Biden’s administration and later became the director of the National Policy Council, took aim at Garland on a recent episode of the “Bulwark Podcast” with host Tim Miller.
Tanden indicated that during discussions about Epstein, the White House barely touched on Garland’s Justice Department or its handling of Epstein’s case. “Whenever I mention Epstein, the response is often, ‘Why wasn’t this more on Biden’s radar? Where are the files?'” she said. “Have you ever met Merrick Garland?”
She continued, stating that Garland had little involvement with the Biden administration regarding any law enforcement issues, claiming that the White House struggled to push for action in light of issues that arose during the Trump presidency.
According to Tanden, the Biden White House remains somewhat in the dark about Garland’s ties to the Epstein case, suspecting that he might hesitate to pursue further investigations due to worries about political repercussions associated with the minor sex trafficking charges related to Epstein.
Tanden expressed confusion over Garland’s decisions, suggesting he might be overly cautious about how he is perceived in matters of fairness. “After facing significant conservative backlash from the Capitol riot investigations, perhaps he felt wary about scrutinizing Ghislaine Maxwell too closely,” she said. “But that’s something we should ask him.” She added, “I really wish he had taken a deeper look into it.”
In a related development, a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee voted to summon Garland along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as part of the inquiry into high-profile officials, including former President Bill Clinton and Maxwell.
This month, both the Department of Justice and the FBI stated they were unable to locate sufficient information within the Epstein files to bring charges against additional individuals involved in the case.
