WASHINGTON − Attorney General Merrick Garlandwho has been threatened with contempt of the Republican House members, responded strongly on Tuesday by saying that he – and the Department of Justice – will not be intimidated.
In a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing, Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, harshly criticized Garland for refuse to publish the recording of President Joe Biden discussing classified documents found in his home special counsel Robert Hur. The Judiciary Committee and the Oversight Committee have voted along party lines to impeach Garland.
Jordan proposed on Monday to eliminate funding for a new FBI headquarters and for special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and for withholding and refusing to return classified documents after leaving office.
“Many Americans believe that there is a double standard in our justice system now. They believe it because there is,” Jordan said in opening the hearing. “And we're going to have a lot of questions about this issue.”
But Garland, a former federal prosecutor and appeals court judge, said in his opening statement to the committee that he would not be pressured by the move to consider it in contempt. The department provided lawmakers with a transcript of the interview, Garland said, but releasing the recording could jeopardize future investigations. Biden invoked executive privilege to maintain the confidentiality of the recording.
“These repeated attacks on the Department of Justice are unprecedented and unfounded,” Garland told lawmakers. “I view contempt as a serious matter. But I will not jeopardize the ability of our prosecutors and officers to do their jobs effectively in future investigations. I will not be intimidated.”
Garland also blasted Republicans for “false claims.” Trump's conviction for falsifying business records in New York state court “was somehow controlled by the Department of Justice.”
“This conspiracy theory is an attack on the judicial process itself,” Garland said.
Hur decided not to charge Biden with any crime classified documents found to his former office in Washington, DC and home in Delaware, saying the evidence did not establish his guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hur's report also described Biden as a “well-meaning old man with a short memory.”
House Republicans argued they needed to hear the tape to gauge Biden's ability to hold office. The judiciary and supervision the commissions voted in May to belittle Garland for refusing to hand over the recording.
If the full House votes to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over the tape, the move is largely symbolic because the department is unlikely to prosecute the attorney general.
“These attacks have not and will not influence our decision-making,” Garland said.
Garland says Justice Department cooperation has gone 'beyond precedent'
During the hearing, Jordan and other Republicans, including Matt Gaetz of Florida, accused Garland of improperly arming the Justice Department against Trump as Trump runs for president. That includes playing a role in all four criminal prosecutions against Trump, including the New York case that resulted in his own conviction on hush money charges last week.
The state case in New York was brought by Manhattan's locally elected district attorney, and there is no known evidence of any Justice Department involvement in that investigation or charging decision. Another case was brought by the local elected district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., and two were brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who Garland appointed to avoid political interference in the case.
Republicans also accused Garland of refusing to cooperate with their committee's investigations into various aspects of the Biden administration.
With each question and accusation, Garland politely disagreed, saying the department under his leadership is conducting its activities by the book and cooperating with Republicans in Congress when appropriate.
In Garland's defense, the committee's ranking Democrat Jerrold Nadler of New York said Biden's Justice Department has produced more than 92,000 pages of documents to Congress and made 25 staffers available for interviews, or “so exponential” more than the Trump administration did in its four years in office.
“It's right?” Nadler asked.
“Yes,” Garland replied.
Garland also said the Justice Department has “gone beyond precedent” to cooperate with the committee's investigation into the case of Biden's classified documents.
“But we have made it clear that we will not provide audio recordings, from which the transcripts you already have were created,” Garland stated. “Releasing the audio would reduce cooperation with the department in future investigations. And it could influence witnesses' responses if they thought the audio of their interviews with police could be released to Congress and the public.”
Garland says there is no “legislative purpose” in releasing Biden's audio tape
Garland has repeatedly denied accusations by GOP lawmakers that he allowed politics to creep into the administration of justice, including his refusal to release the audio tape of the Biden interview. He also suggested on several occasions that Republicans are seeking the audio tape for political purposes.
Rep. Dan Bishop, RNC, told Garland that Republicans need to listen to Biden's audio recording “to see if it fits the transcript or if it reveals things about his ability, his veracity or any something else that comes from his behavior as he is interviewed”.
“Well, none of the things you just mentioned are legislative purposes,” Garland responded, adding that Bishop and other Republicans “have not yet suggested any legislation that you intend to pass or that you're thinking about, that the audio would make a difference over the transcript.”
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: AG Garland on House GOP: 'I will not be intimidated' by impeachment threat
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