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 post.
“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 United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, received a warm welcome during his full-day confirmation hearing. 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 think of a few more suitable people” to lead the department, said Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Illinois), chairman 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, stifling tears as he told his family’s arrival in the United States when Senator Cory Booker (D., NJ) asked about his motivation to accept the job. “I feel an obligation to the country to give back. This is the biggest and best use of my own skill set to give back,” he said.
Several senators pressed the judge on how he would handle politically sensitive investigations and potential pressure from the White House, after Democrats 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 makes 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, lobbied Garland about how he would handle a criminal tax investigation into Biden’s son Hunter and a special attorney’s investigation into the origins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2016 Russian investigation, conducted by the 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 allowing Durham to complete his investigation.
He also said that he never discussed the Hunter Biden investigation with the president and that he agreed to be nominated because Mr. Biden had promised that the Justice Department would make all decisions about investigations and prosecutions.
The fact that Judge Garland was answering questions from senators who will vote for his confirmation was a turnaround in 2016, when Senate Republicans, then in the majority, refused to grant him a hearing after President Barack Obama appointed him to the Supreme Court.
Judge Garland also told senators that he would seek strict enforcement of civil rights laws, focusing on prosecutions for hate crimes, voting rights and equal treatment of minorities in the criminal justice system. He said he planned to resolve “the problem of mass incarceration” and signaled that his Justice Department would show leniency to some lower-level drug offenders, reversing the Trump administration’s policy.
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.
Judge Garland said he was also shocked by the videos of the deaths. “It brought everything to the fore and created a moment when we have the opportunity to make dramatic changes and really bring about equal justice under the law,” he said.
He said the Justice Department should exercise its civil rights authority to hold entire police departments accountable for police misconduct through comprehensive investigations of standards or practices that sometimes end in court-mandated reviews. The Trump administration has shortened these investigations, saying 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 have their private funds, which some liberal activists suggested in response to high profile police shootings last summer.
Regarding the federal death penalty, which the Trump administration restarted 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 members of communities of color. “The policy would ultimately 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 to be a crime, but would consider an extremist domestic 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 Google antitrust case – the biggest lawsuit of its kind in decades – filed by the department in the fall, claiming that the tech 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 crush on law school”, said he would take enforcement seriously. “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 with restoring confidence public in the Justice Department after the Watergate scandal. On Monday morning, two of Levi’s sons released letters supporting the judge’s appointment.
“Ed Levi is my role model for the attorney general,” said Judge Garland. “His role was to ensure that justice was done fairly and impartially, without any special favor for anyone.”
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-22-21 1659ET