(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., lamented that the Biden administration did not move more quickly to incarcerate President Donald Trump, suggesting that even more aggressive action could have thwarted his 2024 electoral prospects.
Schiff, who himself is facing a federal investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud, claimed in an interview with the New Yorker Radio Hour that had former Attorney General Merrick Garland acted sooner, “we might be in a very different place today.”
Schiff’s remarks came after podcast host David Remnick asked, “Do you feel that Merrick Garland moved too slowly, too cautiously?”
The senator replied, “I absolutely do. Yeah.”
Remnick then asked why Garland acted “so slowly,” adding, “What about his character or tactics or strategy led him to behave that way?”
Schiff then misleadingly claimed that Garland had been brought in to correct what Schiff viewed as partisanship in the first Trump administration.
These comments appear at odds with newly declassified documents that showed that the Biden-led DOJ and FBI undertook sweeping investigations targeting Trump and his allies after he left office in 2021.
The New York Times even reported that former President Joe Biden actively supported Garland taking action against Trump.
The Biden-led probe triggered 197 subpoenas against 430 Republican organizations and individuals. The subpoenas included phone records of at least 11 Republican lawmakers.
These records were later transferred to Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom Garland appointed to pursue the Trump investigation under the guise of independence.
Despite this, Schiff framed Garland’s actions as part of an attempt to restore credibility.
“The Justice Department in the first Trump was abused and made partisan, and he wished to restore the Department’s reputation for independence,” Schiff claimed. “Now, what they did in the first Trump Justice Department is peanuts compared to today.”
Schiff continued, “But nevertheless, Merrick Garland wanted to restore the reputation of the Department for strict non-partisanship. And that made him very reluctant to pursue an investigation of the president, too reluctant.”
In conclusion, Schiff claimed that Garland’s reluctance allowed the Supreme Court time to issue a decision on presidential immunity.
“Ultimately that gave the Supreme Court the time it needed to drag things out further and make the case against Trump go away completely when it could have been brought to fruition. And we might be in a very different place today,” he stated.
Watch the remarks below:
Adam Schiff laments that Trump wasn’t prosecuted fast enough to be put in prison. He blames Garland for being just too darned non-partisan:
“He wanted to restore the reputation of the department for strict non-partisanship. And that made him very reluctant. Too reluctant." pic.twitter.com/jpmVZMLnBj
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 8, 2025
