U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington on June 4, 2024.
Anna Rose Layden | Reuters
Attorney General Merrick Garland countered House Republicans’ threat to hold him in contempt Tuesday, calling their efforts part of a wave of “unprecedented and baseless” attacks against the Justice Department.
“I will not be intimidated,” Garland said in his testimony at the start of a hearing before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee.
“The Justice Department will not be intimidated,” he said. “We will continue to carry out our work free from political influence. And we will not shy away from defending our democracy.”
He also pushed back against the barrage of conspiracy theories surrounding former President Donald Trump’s historic criminal conviction on Thursday, including the false claim that a New York jury’s guilty verdict was “somehow controlled by the Justice Department.”
“This conspiracy theory is an attack on the judicial process itself,” Garland said.
His unusually direct rebuke came as House Republicans headed toward a contempt vote on the DOJ’s refusal to turn over tapes of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating the president’s handling of classified documents.
Hur noted that Biden “intentionally” withheld classified material after serving as vice president under Barack Obama. But the special prosecutor declined to file criminal charges against the Democratic incumbent.
The Judiciary panel’s hearing Tuesday morning was billed as an investigation into how the Justice Department became “politicized and weaponized” under Garland.
“Many Americans believe that there is now a double standard in our justice system,” Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said at the start of the hearing. “You believe that because it is.”
Democrats on the Judiciary panel loudly condemned their Republican colleagues for repeating Trump’s claims that his New York hush money trial was politically motivated and orchestrated by the Biden administration.
“These statements are false and intended to mislead. They aim to incite. They are dangerous,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa.
“I am truly deeply concerned that our institutions are under attack,” Dean said.
Other Democrats were even more confrontational.
“Guys, I’m starting to think you’re in a cult,” Rep. Eric Swalwell of California once told the committee’s Republicans.
Representative Adam Schiff of California joked that he was “surprised that the flag is still flying right side up in this committee.” He was referring to recent reports that an upside-down US flag was flown at the home of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, linked to a pro-Trump 2020 election denial movement.
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Garland himself repeatedly clashed with some Republican committee members over their descriptions of key case documents and other legal matters.
“That is a mischaracterization,” the AG told Jordan after the chairman accused special counsel Jack Smith — who is suing Trump in two federal courts — of tampering with evidence in the former president’s case using classified criminal documents.
The Republican committee also criticized Garland and his department over the influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border, which is a top concern for voters in polls for the 2024 presidential election.
The Justice Department is suing Texas over a law that allows state and local authorities to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy accused the Justice Department of “misusing valuable resources to target the people of Texas,” who he said are taking action at the border because the federal government itself “refuses” to do so.
Garland responded that his department was challenging Texas over a precedent that prohibits states from enacting their own immigration laws.
Garland insisted throughout the hearing that Republicans’ contempt efforts were unwarranted.
In his opening statement, he said that “certain members” of the Judiciary and Oversight Committee “seek contempt as a means to obtain – without any legitimate purpose – confidential law enforcement information that could compromise the integrity of future investigations.”
“This attempt is just the latest in a long line of attacks on the work of the Justice Department,” Garland said.
He cited recent threats from Congress to stop funding Smith’s ongoing prosecution of Trump, as well as the spread of “baseless and extremely dangerous falsehoods” about the FBI.
“We are seeing vile threats of violence against Justice Department officials,” Garland said.
“These repeated attacks on the Justice Department are unprecedented and baseless,” he said, but “these attacks have not and will not influence our decision-making.”
“I view contempt as a serious matter,” he said. “But I will not jeopardize the ability of our prosecutors and agents to do their jobs effectively in future investigations.”
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2024-06-04 19:29:18
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