By Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON – Judge Merrick Garland, chosen by President Biden as attorney general, promised to combat the growing threat of domestic extremism, saying that a broad federal investigation into the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol would be his first priority if confirmed for the position.
“I think this was the most heinous attack on democratic processes I have ever seen, and that I never expected to see in my life,” Judge Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. He added that the current investigation into the riot – which has led some 250 people to face criminal charges so far – appeared to be “extremely aggressive and perfectly appropriate”.
Judge Garland, appointed by Clinton in 1997 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, received a warm welcome when his confirmation hearing opened. Republicans and Democrats hailed the nominee, who spearheaded domestic terrorism investigations in the 1990s, as qualified to fight the threat of extremist violence and establish a Department of Justice stirred up by political storms during the Trump administration.
“I can’t think of a few more suitable people” to lead the department, said Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), President of the Judiciary Committee. The first two Republicans on the panel, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, described the judge as a “good choice”.
While the investigation into the January 6 attack is expected to remain largely unchanged, Judge Garland, if confirmed, must oversee a dramatic change in the agency’s approach to a number of other issues, from the application of civil rights and police reform to use. of the federal death penalty and the level of discretion that prosecutors have in prosecuting crimes.
“My grandparents fled anti-Semitism and persecution. The country welcomed and protected us,” said Judge Garland, choking on tears as he reported his family’s arrival in the United States. “I feel that the country has an obligation to give back. The highest and best use of my own skill set to give back,” he said.
Several senators lobbied the judge about how he would handle politically sensitive investigations and potential pressure from the White House, after Democrats repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump for what he considered his efforts to fit into the traditionally independent affairs of the Justice Department.
“I don’t intend to be interfered with by anyone. I hope the Justice Department will make its own decisions in this regard,” said Judge Garland.
“I would not have accepted this job if I thought that the policy would have some influence on the processes and investigations,” he said.
Republicans, in particular, pressured Garland about how he would handle a criminal tax investigation into Biden’s son Hunter and a special attorney’s investigation examining the origins of the 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Russian investigation being overseen by the Connecticut federal prosecutor, John Durham.
Judge Garland said he planned to be informed of the Durham investigation as one of his first acts at work and said he approved of keeping Durham in the department to complete his investigation.
He also said he never discussed young Biden’s investigation with the president and said he agreed to be nominated because Biden said that decisions about investigations and prosecutions would be left to the Justice Department.
The fact that Judge Garland is answering questions from senators who will vote for his confirmation was a dramatic turnaround in 2016, when Senate Republicans, then in the majority, refused to give Judge Garland a hearing after President Barack Obama appointed to the Supreme Court.
Judge Garland also told senators that he would also seek strong enforcement of civil rights laws, citing the Department of Justice’s original mission to enforce amendments to the constitution that provide broader rights and protections for black Americans who emerged from the Civil war. Democrats want him to make racial justice the focus of the department’s work after last summer’s protests over police deaths and abuse of blacks.
Questioned by Democrats, he said the Justice Department, in some cases, must exercise its civil rights authority to carry out far-reaching civil rights investigations, known as investigations of standards and practices, in police departments, which improvement plans sometimes end in court execution. The Trump administration has drastically reduced these investigations, believing that it was unfair for the federal government to impose costly changes on cities.
“It is an important tool that the department has to ensure accountability,” said Judge Garland. But he said he agreed with Biden that police departments should not be deprived of their funds, which some liberal activists have suggested in response to high profile police shootings this summer.
“We saw how difficult the cops’ lives were in the body camera videos we saw when they were defending the Capitol,” he said.
Regarding the federal death penalty, which the Trump administration resumed after an almost 20-year hiatus, Judge Garland said he is concerned with “a large number of exonerations”, “increasing randomness, almost arbitrary application” and “enormously disparate impact on black Americans and other communities of color. “The policy would be decided by Biden, who is also opposed to capital punishment.
Several Republicans also pressured the judge on how he would deal with the country’s growing violent crime rates and the violence that followed some protests by the Black Lives Matter last summer. Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) asked if he saw “attacks on federal courts or other federal property acts of … domestic terrorism”, referring to related damages during nighttime disturbances in Portland, Oregon. Judge Garland said he considered any attack on government property a crime, but would consider it a domestic extremist attack if the protesters were specifically looking to disrupt federal operations. “Both are criminals, but one is a central attack on our democratic institutions,” he said.
Judge Garland would also oversee Alphabet Inc.’s antitrust case against Google – the largest lawsuit of its kind in decades – filed by the department in the fall, claiming that the technology giant used anti-competitive tactics to maintain a monopoly position in research and search advertising. Google denies the charges.
The judge, who described antitrust issues as his “first passion in law school”, said he would take antitrust enforcement seriously, but did not address specific cases. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly referred to antitrust laws as the American charter of economic freedom, and I deeply believe that,” he said.
Judge Garland’s allies portrayed him as uniquely equipped for the task of running the agency in the post-Trump era, comparing the judge’s potential mandate to that of Edward Levi, attorney general of President Gerald Ford, who is widely credited for restoring confidence of the public in the Justice Department after the Watergate scandal. On Monday morning, two of Levi’s sons released letters supporting the judge’s appointment.
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-22-21 1406ET