The FBI Director had a difficult decision to make prior to the 2016 election. If he followed protocol and refused to make any public statements about the Clinton e-mail investigation, and Clinton subsequently won the election, he knew the Trump camp would go nuts, and the reputation of the FBI and the government in general would suffer for it. If he didn’t, he would be setting a precedent for the FBI inappropriately interfering in the electoral process. What should he do?
As we know, he decided to go public, because he assumed Clinton would win the election, anyway. That didn’t turn out too well.
Today, Merrick Garland faces a similar choice. Should he indict Trump, and make the ensuing criminal case a huge part of the man on golf cart’s campaign against the “deep state” over the next two years? On balance, it would probably strengthen–not weaken–the far right. Or should he let Ron DeSantis do the dirty work for him, and keep the DOJ out of it, even if it sends the dangerous message that Trump and his followers are above the law?
There are no good choices here. I’m betting he picks Option 2, which is looking more viable after the midterms.
UPDATE: About an hour after I posted this, Garland found another way around the problem by appointing a special counsel. Trump, of course, is describing this effort to depoliticize the process as a political hatchet job.