“We are united by our commitment to protect our country, as our oath says, from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And by our commitment to enforce the laws of our country and guarantee the civil rights and civil liberties of our people” said Garland. in a speech at the department on his first day as attorney general. “The only way to succeed and maintain the confidence of the American people is to adhere to the rules that have become part of the DNA of every Justice Department employee since Edward Levi’s appointment as the first post-Watergate attorney general.”
Garland continued: “As I said in the announcement of my nomination, these rules require that similar cases be treated in the same way. That there is no one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans. One rule for friends and one for enemies. One rule for the powerful and one for the impotent. One rule for the rich and another for the poor. Or different rules, depending on the race or ethnicity of each one. “
The new attorney general did not mention Trump by name.
In what appeared to be a welcoming ceremony, Garland was greeted in the Justice Department courtyard by several masked department employees and a continuous round of applause. Monty Wilkinson, the acting attorney general, received an elbow salute.
Among the crowd was Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin and Lee Loftus, Deputy Attorney General for Administration, who will swear on him.