President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday introduced federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland and other key prosecutors as key members of his new Department of Justice.
Garland, whom Biden appointed as his attorney general, would lead a team of legal experts with deep experience in the Department of Justice and around the Department of Justice and significant experience in civil rights law.
But in the wake of the pro-Trump revolt on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Biden began his speech on Thursday by reiterating who his nominees will serve.
“We need to restore the honor, integrity and independence of the DOJ of this nation that has been so badly damaged,” said Biden.
“I want to make it clear to those who lead this department that you will serve: You will not work for me. You are not the attorney for the president or vice president. Your loyalty is not with me, ”he added. “It is for the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation.”
Many of Biden’s nominees echoed that sentiment and called for a return to an independent, apolitical Department of Justice.
Garland, whose previous nomination to the United States Supreme Court by President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans, spoke immediately after President-elect.
“The essence of the rule of law is that similar cases are treated in the same way: that there is no one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends, another for enemies, a rule for the powerful and another for the helpless, “he said.
“These principles – guaranteeing the rule of law and making the promise of equal justice before the law real – are the great principles on which the Department of Justice was founded and for which it must always defend itself,” added Garland.
Federal Judge Merrick Garland makes comments after being appointed Attorney General of the United States by President-elect Joe Biden at The Queen theater on January 7, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Biden’s appointment of Garland, a centrist policy, probably reflects the president-elect’s focus on isolating the department of partisanship seen by President Donald Trump, who often pressured his attorney generals to investigate personal complaints, including false allegations of widespread electoral fraud.
The president’s claims, although without evidence, are believed to have helped incite violent riots and the siege of the Capitol the day before.
Biden’s pleas for an independent and tireless process can quickly be put to the test in the midst of a criminal investigation into the son of President-elect Hunter Biden.
Young Biden announced last month that his taxes were being investigated by the District Attorney in Delaware, a DOJ unit.
Although father and son said they were confident that Hunter did nothing wrong, ethics officers are likely to examine the investigation for its duration and scope.
Lisa Monaco, Biden’s choice for Obama’s deputy attorney general and former counterterrorism adviser, said the restoration of the department’s unrestricted search for justice is of paramount importance after the past four years.
“The soul of the Justice Department lives in the integrity of its career professionals, in the independence of its investigations and lawsuits and in the principles it applies when administering the ideal of justice in America,” she said.
“What is most critical, I think, in the days ahead is not a challenge, but an opportunity,” added Monaco. “For this team, and for the career professionals that make up the Ministry of Justice, reaffirm its rules and traditions. Do justice without fear and without favor ”.
Biden chose Vanita Gupta, a career civil rights attorney and former Justice Judge, as an associate attorney general. Daughter of Indian immigrants, Gupta told a story from her childhood, when she realized that US justice fails most often with people and communities of color.
She remembers how, at the age of four, she and her family were forced to leave a McDonald’s after a group of skinheads started calling them racial slurs and throwing food at their mother and grandmother.
Vanita Gupta, appointed by US President-elect Joe Biden as deputy attorney general, speaks as Biden announces his nominees for the Department of Justice at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, January 7, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
“There are many federal government agencies, but in fact only one that bears the name of a value. Because of this name, this value of justice, we know that the agency has a single charge, ”she said.
“At best, it is the guardian of a sacred promise. It is the promise of equal justice for everyone,” added Gupta. “But when abandoned, we degrade our democracy and sow the division we know very well.”
Kristen Clarke, the nominee to lead the DOJ’s civil rights division, completed the speeches. In a previous role as a career attorney for the Justice Department, Clarke handled cases of police misconduct, hate crimes and human trafficking.
Clarke said the country is at a “crossroads” and, if confirmed, it will try to “close the door” against discrimination by applying civil rights laws.
“The department, and especially the civil rights division, has always held a special place in my heart. The clarion call for equal justice under the law is what unites us as a nation, ”she said.