Attorney General Merrick Garland forcefully pushes back on “false” narratives he claims are being spread about the Department of Justice, ABC News reported.
The AG chided Republicans for their “extremely dangerous falsehoods” attacks on the DOJ. During his appearance before a House panel led by Trump’s allies, he told Republicans — who are seeking to hold him in contempt for not handing over records related to Biden’s handling of classified documents after his vice presidency — that he will “not be intimidated.”
The House Judiciary Committee hearing was used by Republicans as an excuse to push their claim that Biden weaponized the department against Trump, a theory that might have held more going for it if Biden’s son, Hunter, was not himself on trial for federal firearms charges. However, Trump has continued to paint himself as a victim of a “rigged” legal system, a distortion that elected Republicans have eagerly embraced.
Garland condemned Republicans’ “conspiracy theory” that the department was responsible for Trump’s criminal conviction in New York, which was a state-level prosecution led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Garland called the GOP’s claims “baseless,” the Associated Press reported.
“Certain members of this Committee and the Oversight Committee are seeking contempt as a means of obtaining — for no legitimate purpose — sensitive law enforcement information that could harm the integrity of future investigations,” Garland said in his opening statement, ABC News reported. “This effort is only the most recent in a long line of attacks on the Justice Department’s work.”
Garland also slammed Trump’s false claim that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate had been “authorized to shoot.” Last week, the FBI issued a statement noting that its agents followed “standard procedure.”
Garland said the lies about the FBI “raises the threats of violence” and noted that the language highlighted by Trump and others, authorizing force if certain conditions are met, “was part of the package for the search of President Biden’s home as well.”