Attorney General Merrick Garland, in an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, strongly pushed back on “false” and “extremely dangerous” stories he says are being spread about the Justice Department. He said he and the ministry “will not be intimidated.”
The hearing came as Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives threatened to hold Garland in contempt for withholding records they subpoenaed from special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents after his deputy presidency, including audio recordings of Hur’s interview.
“Certain members of this committee and the Oversight Committee are seeking contempt as a means to obtain – without legitimate purpose – sensitive law enforcement information that could damage the integrity of future investigations,” Garland said in his opening statement. “This effort is only the latest in a long line of attacks on the work of the Department of Justice.”
MORE: Biden claims executive privilege over audio of special counsel Hur interview
Garland’s appearance before the committee became controversial from the start when Representative Matt Gaetz opened the questioning to Republicans. He bombarded Garland with a combination of hypotheses that the attorney general was unwilling to address while trying to tie the Justice Department to state-level investigations independent of the department.
Gaetz pressed Garland about the Justice Department’s interactions with the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose investigation of former President Donald Trump resulted in a jury convicting him on 34 felony counts last week, and Fulton County, Georgia’s District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor who brought a massive racketeering case against Trump.
The Florida Republican asked Garland if the Justice Department would provide documents and correspondence between the department and their offices. Garland responded that both agencies are independent of the Justice Department and said all requests for congressional correspondence would be referred to the Office of Legislative Affairs.
Gaetz then hit back, saying that by refusing to immediately turn over such documents, the Justice Department is only fueling more conspiracy theories.
During the back and forth, Garland reiterated that the Justice Department was not involved in Bragg’s investigation. In his opening statement, Garland said that “the conspiracy theory is an attack on the legal process itself.”
MORE: Donald Trump becomes the first US president to be tried and convicted of crimes
‘The case in New York is being brought by the Manhattan district attorney on his own initiative [his] own determination of what was, what he believed was a violation of state law,” Garland told Gaetz.
Garland also rebuked “baseless and extremely dangerous falsehoods … being spread about the FBI’s law enforcement operations,” he said, an apparent reference to conspiracy theories spread by Trump and his allies that Biden authorized the use of lethal force in the search of the FBI to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat, asked Garland what the impact would be on the department if Trump and Republicans baselessly claim that Biden tried to kill Trump during the search for Mar-a-Lago. As part of the Aug. 8, 2022, operation at Mar-a-Lago, FBI agents were given a standard policy document limiting the use of deadly force, the unsealed memo said.
“This is dangerous. It increases the threat of violence against prosecutors and career officers,” Garland said. “The allegation is false, as the FBI has explained, the document being discussed is our standard use of force protocol, which is a limitation on the use of force, and which is routinely part of the search warrant package, and was part of the package also for the search of President Biden’s home.”
Garland became visibly emotional when Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean asked him about his concerns about institutions like the Justice Department being attacked in the US.
“Attacks on the rule of law undermine confidence in the fundamental element of our democracy, which is that all people are treated equally,” Garland said. “And I intend to continue to protect the rule of law, to protect the career employees of my department, to ensure that they can continue to do their jobs, which is to do the right thing every day and not be distracted by outsiders. influences, political or otherwise.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican, pressed Garland over his nomination of Jack Smith as special counsel, raising several suggestions that Smith was a political assassin out to “get” Trump.
“I appointed someone who was not a political appointee, someone who was independent and impartial, with a track record as a prosecutor. That seemed like the perfect resume to me,” Garland said.
Garland also responded directly when Jordan pressed whether he regretted choosing Smith to oversee the Trump investigation.
“No, I don’t regret choosing him,” Garland said.
Garland defended the Justice Department’s recent decision to urge Biden to assert executive privilege over the remaining data from Hur’s investigation, arguing that handing over the materials could result in future high-profile investigations would be jeopardized.
“I consider contempt to be a serious matter. But I will not jeopardize the ability of our prosecutors and agents to do their jobs effectively in future investigations,” Garland said. “I will not be intimidated. And the Department of Justice will not be intimidated. We will continue to do our work, free from political influence. And we will not shy away from defending our democracy.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland debunks conspiracy theories about Trump and FBI criminal case originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
