A former adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said McConnell thinks picking Judge Merrick Garland as FBI director would be a "fantastic idea," Fox News reports.
"He certainly thinks (Garland) will be qualified. And (McConnell) certainly thinks he would be somebody that he could support," said Josh Holmes, who now runs the strategy firm Cavalry LLC.
Garland was former President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, a nomination that was in part obstructed by McConnell – the Republican from Kentucky refused to hold Senate confirmation hearings on Garland because he thought the next president should make the decision.
Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, first floated the idea of Garland as FBI chief.
"He was one of the lead prosecutors who was behind the Timothy McVeigh prosecution in Oklahoma City," Lee said during an interview on Fox News last week. "This is a prosecutor's prosecutor. This is someone who's got allies in both parties as a potential nominee."
President Donald Trump is said to have 12 candidates in mind to replace James Comey, whom he hastily fired last week. Several were interviewed Saturday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
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