WASHINGTON – Attorney General Merrick Garland will strike a defiant tone Wednesday in defending the Justice Department as independent of the White House and Congress, while Republicans ratchet up criticism of high-profile investigations of Hunter Biden and Donald Trump.
“Our job is to uphold the rule of law,” Garland said in remarks prepared for a hearing at the House Judiciary Committee. “Our job is not to do what is politically convenient.”
Garland’s testimony on Capitol Hill comes against a backdrop of multiple investigations that are politically fraught. The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has also blasted Garland for how the Justice Department handlea inquiries involving school boards, Catholics and anti-abortion protesters.
But Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will likely be Exhibit A during the hearing. Biden faces three federal gun charges after a plea agreement collapsed in July. Republicans argued Garland should have replaced U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware leading the investigation, but instead he was elevated to special counsel.
Three congressional committees have held hearings with Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers who contend Biden’s tax investigation was hindered, which the Justice Department denies. Some lawmakers criticized the proposed plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal” for Biden because his father is president.
But Garland planned to say prosecutions are not based on money or power.
“There is not one set of laws for the powerful and another for the powerless; one for the rich, another for the poor; one for Democrats, another for Republicans; or different rules, depending upon one’s race or ethnicity or religion,” Garland said in prepared remarks.
Trump faces two federal trials, one for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and the other for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the handling of both investigations because classified documents were also found at President Biden’s home and because Trump is Biden’s political rival. Trump has repeatedly blasted special counsel Jack Smith for what he claims is a political prosecution.
Garland planned to remind lawmakers, according to the prepared remarks, that he represents the American people rather than the president or Congress.
“Our job is not to take orders from the President, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate,” Garland said in the prepared remarks. “The Justice Department works for the American people.”
Garland also warned against singling out career public services for doing their jobs, “particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of public servants and their families.”
“We will not be intimidated,” Garland said in the prepared remarks. “We will do our jobs free from outside interference. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”
