WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland will condemn “conspiracy theories” and “dangerous lies” targeting the Justice Department in a speech to employees Thursday as he pushes back forcefully against Republicans’ claims of politicization.
Garland will deliver a speech to U.S. prosecutors gathered in Washington and other members of the Justice Department, strongly defending the department’s integrity and impartiality and condemning what he described as “outrageous” attacks that endanger law enforcement.
“These attacks took the form of conspiracy theories, dangerous lies, efforts to intimidate and bully officials by repeatedly and publicly targeting them, and threats of actual violence,” Garland will say in his speech in the Great Hall of the Justice Department headquarters, according to prepared remarks provided to reporters.
“You have made it clear through your continued work that the Justice Department will not be intimidated by these attacks. But it is dangerous — and outrageous — that you must endure them.”
It is the attorney general’s latest attack on claims that his department was politically deployed under the Biden administration to target former President Donald Trump, who was charged in two separate criminal cases by a special prosecutor appointed by Garland.
Garland does not mention Trump or Republicans in the segments. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has repeatedly accused prosecutors of bringing politically motivated criminal cases against him. Republicans have also falsely alleged that the New York criminal case in which Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in May was orchestrated by Biden and the Justice Department.
During testimony before a House committee in June, Garland told lawmakers he “will not be intimidated” by the attacks on the department, which he said will continue to operate “free from political influence.”
Garland came to office promising to restore the department’s reputation for political independence after four tumultuous years under Trump. But Garland has faced a torrent of criticism over his department’s handling of politically sensitive cases, including the prosecution of Hunter, the son of Democratic President Joe Biden, who pleaded guilty last week to federal tax charges brought by a different special counsel.
In his speech, Garland will say that the department’s staff have made it clear through their work that they “will not bow to politics” and that they “will not buckle under pressure.”
“The choices you make in every investigation, in every filing, in every trial, in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this Department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve,” Garland will say, according to his prepared remarks. “And for that, you deserve respect.”
