Garland’s Hot Potato

Congressional Republicans have vowed to hold Hunter Biden in contempt for defying their subpoena, which will put the ball in the Justice Department’s court for prosecution. That’s a serious hot potato for Attorney General Merrick Garland: He can shield Hunter (and thus his dad) from the consequences of defying the law, but only at the cost of exposing himself as utterly partisan.

Citizens who receive subpoenas are legally required to show up. And the Garland Justice Department prosecuted and convicted former Trump officials Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon for similarly defying congressional subpoenas.

Bannon’s sentence: four months in prison and a $6,500 fine; Navarro is awaiting sentencing. (Both are appealing the verdicts.)

Hunter’s offer to testify publicly is no defense: Lawmakers set the terms, not witnesses, and the House insisted on a closeddoor interview.

The First Son not only blew them off; he rubbed it in their faces, daring them to pursue contempt charges at his “poor me” press conference right outside the Capitol — just steps from where he was supposed to be.

And, by the way, his truthful testimony is vital to determining Joe’s role in Hunter’s businesses. American voters surely have a right to know if their president is corrupt; Congress, acting as a check on the executive branch, is constitutionally required to find out.

Indeed, Democrats claimed just such a duty when they held endless hearings on Trump-Russia claims they knew were bogus.

Garland can tell the House he won’t intervene, that it’ll have to order its sergeant-atarms to toss him in the Capitol jail, as the Constitution allows (and it has before with others).

But what does Hunter’s Secret Service detail do then?

At some point, a president’s abuse of executive-branch powers itself becomes an impeachable offense.