At the first day of his Senate confirmation hearings Monday, U.S. Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland gave a rough outline of some of the things he’d do as the nation’s top law enforcement officer — from prosecuting those who attacked the Capitol last month to weighing federal gun reform policies.
Garland, a former federal prosecutor before becoming a judge on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., appeared before the Senate judiciary committee for questioning.
During his testimony, Garland said that overseeing prosecution for supporters of former President Donald Trump who were instrumental in attacking the Capitol will be his initial priority.
“If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government,” Garland said in his opening statement.
“The attorney general takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies — foreign and domestic.”
Related Story: 7 Takeaways as Merrick Garland Gets Hearing for Attorney General
Garland added that prosecution likely won’t be limited to those who physically attacked the building, but could also include fundraisers and other organizers for the rally that turned into an assault.
“We will pursue these leads, wherever they take us,” he said.
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Garland, who was nominated as a Supreme Court justice by former President Barack Obama five years ago, also said the Justice Department could be open to new policies on federal-level gun control reforms.
“The president is a strong supporter of gun control and has been an advocate all of his professional life on this question,” he said when questioned by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. “The role of the Justice Department is to advance the policy program of the administration as long as it is consistent with the law.”
Garland also made clear Monday that his Justice Department will take seriously racial and social inequality.
He said statistics are clear that Black Americans and other people of color are treated differently by the justice system, and that all should be treated equally.
Garland echoed Biden’s stance of not supporting the movement to “defund” police. He did say, though, that he supports more mental health support and enhanced social services so police officers are used less in instances of suicide and mental health calls.
He also said he’s concerned about the upswing in violent crime in some of the country’s largest cities and will strengthen the Justice Department’s role in addressing the problem.
Garland stressed at Monday’s hearing that the department, under his leadership, would not be politicized — a constant criticism that many lobbed at Trump during his four years in office.
“The president made abundantly clear in every public statement before and after my nomination that the decisions about investigations and prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department,” Garland said. “That was the reason that I was willing to take on this job.”
Garland is expected to win bipartisan support to win confirmation. The judiciary committee will hold a second day of hearings Tuesday.
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Well: another totally biased fraud for our justice system. Labeling people at the Capital demonstration as White Supremacists with no evidence of such. Also no priority to prosecute rioters who burned cities all over country last summer.
Be careful what you ask for Garland. Ferreting out, prosecuting, and jailing political opponents can come back to bite you Democrats just as hard as changing the rules for nominating Supreme Court Justices. You came out on the short stick with that one too. The only white supremacists in America these days are the ones in the Democrat Party that act like they are above the law. Enter Sleepy Joe Biden who only awakes long enough to sign the Executive orders written by similar traitors to their country, their gender, their race and their Country, every bit as deleterious to the country as Joe himself.
HOW can it come back to bite them? IF this guy gets in, ALL THEIR Opposition will be jailed, SO WHEN AND WHERE would they ever worry about it ‘coming back to bite them’??
I saw on the news this morning that there was a racial situation involving Merrick and a black assistant. Where’s the news on that?
Covered up of course. IF it even exists.
Probably did not see those summer riots, deaths ,and destruction because he was suffering from RECTAL/Cranial INVERSION ! A system that effects almost all Progressive Socialist Democrats.
You forget that the FBI said the summer riots were white supremacist. All the damages were done by white supremacist And the blm and antifa were peaceful. Lol I thought the FBI was joking but they weren’t. That was on ABC news
Absolutely! And, since he is just another communist demonRAT puppet, who the democrats plotted, planned and orchestrated, and paid for the entire thing with their mobs to set Trump up…..AGAIN…. for the umpteenth time during his entire presidency. To protect these traitors, Merrick will have to frame the innocent to protect the democrats and their mobs. I don’t trust a single thing coming out of their mouth. If their mouth is moving, they are spewing lies.
DOJ and the FBI have a sordid history of framing people for political gain and easy convictions. Cross dresser J. Edgar Hover used the FBI to gather dirt on everyone so he could use it to blackmail anyone he wanted to. And HE DID! Now I know that there are many good honest FBI agents and I applaud them,
And folks, wonder, WHY I WOULD LOVE to eliminate the FBI (and CIA) Totally, and utterly!
DrifterDan, it’s doubtful there are “many honest FBI agents” left as judged by the fact that there was not a single whistleblower about Comey’s shenanigans or any of the higher ups who covered for Clinton and were weaponized against Trump by Obama.
ANd after listening tonight to Tucker, mention that the FBI used “Emergency powers” to seize THOUSANDS OF phone calls and texts of EVERYONE that was around the capital, even those LIVING THERE as well as senators/congressmen (and their aides), i honestly don’t see ANYTHING about the FBI, that i’d keep.. NOT a single bloody thing.
Plotters, huh. if it was a plot (IE, planned beforehand) then why was Donald Trump accused of inciting it and why was he impeached, especially given that Trump had left office? This guy was a judge, he has been appointed Attorney General, and he sits on his arse and says nothing about a grave injustice. He is gutless and a disgrace.
At the rate things are going, he’s likely to be confirmed too.. SAD DAY for justice in this nation.. well what justice is left.
I’m sure he’ll do a “real thorough” investigation, yet somehow overlook the Democrats and antifa that were actually behind it.
Garland is dumber than a bowl of cold dog snot.
What do you expect from a U.S. Attorney General that was nominated by Tinkerbell PinocchiObama and now his butt buddy puppet Biden?
Nothing to say about people burning, looting and murdering people for months on end. Then this incident that was certainly created by the left to blame on the right he’s concerned about to follow wherever it leads? Yea, right. They didn’t follow leads to democrats in the Mueller investigation even though that was painfully the obvious thing to do.
Sounds like a witch hunt is beginning. Nobody is safe.
When Conquering returning Roman Generals were Triumphed in ancient Rome, their heads were crowned in garland and driven trough the city in a chariot accompanied with a priest who kept whispering “Remember thou are mortal”. In Joe’s victory he comes riding in on a donkey, surrounded by Humvees, tanks, and troops, and the Garland in his back pocket does the talking, “Remember thou and many Democrat are immoral.”,,,”but thanks to guys like me, none of you will ever go to jail.”
Important points there overlord. And now we are to believe that they’re going to start a ‘serious” investigation now, weeks later, after weeks of poisonous propaganda, hysterical hyperbola, and outright lies have been cast to permanently stain the so-called evidence, making it unlikely to get a sober, unbiased/non-partisan conclusion. And they’re free to go after all those dastardly actors who rushed the “political holy of holies” that dark day–after conveniently filtering out and setting free known leftist activists that not only participated, but, as seen with the most prominent antifa lefty there, who could be heard riling up people into a frenzy and encouraging the crowd into their disruptive actions, recording the resulting actions, as well as the only verified death that occurred because of the riot: The horrific death of that poor veteran who was shot by Capitol Security. And then, after being immediately set free himself, this guy cashed in his video to the hungry media for a$70,000 paycheck.
How much of that will be reflected in the report of this so-called investigation? Yeah, I know…
Overlord.. OF COURSE THEY won’t say anything or do anything, to the hundreds of THOUSANDS OF BLM/ANTIFA rioters.. THEY ARE THE LEFT’S ARMY…
Yep!! Those black kids marching and chanting to Obama didn’t just go away when he left the stage.
Unless he goes after the perpetrators of all the other riots which happened around the country that were more destructive and dangerous than that in the Capitol the prosecutions he intends are just another not so thinly disguised attempt by Democrats to besmirch Donald Trump. It’s been noticed that of most arrested or under suspicion hardly anything has been mentioned tying them to Mr. Trump, the Republicans, or conservatives, only a few left and right wing nut jobs who hate everybody!
And none of the real Trump supporters were violent, or armed, (But just the opposite has been screamed out from the Pravda media) and the ones that were violent, were mysteriously associated with antifa and BLM.
We’ll see just how many BLM and ANTIFA thugs he goes after since they caused the damage. My bet is zero.
According to him. He will prosecute probably ONLY conservatives or republicans. This coward probably doesn’t have the guts to go after BLM and Antifa thugs. Look at those multiple cowardly “ I don’t know” or extreme evasive answers. The establishment Republicans will also vote for him along with the idiot demorats
It isn’t that he doesn’t have the guts, it’s that hes undoubtedly been told to not arrest anyone from antifa and BLM … Because they might tell the truth about who was really behind it, and they can’t have that getting out.
OF course it will be Zero.. REMEMBER what they did was “protesting peacefully…”
Well, mostly peaceful.
How did all the disgusting stinking TRASH find their way to the top? Brainwashed voters?
Another Democrat AJ. Get ready for their persecution of Conservatives and Christians.
Just another Left-wing puppet. Who is pulling his strings – Soros? Wonder if he is as corrupt as former AG Holder or Lynch, doing the bidding of his masters in the District of Corruption, now protected by miles of razor wire and thousands of armed troops like some ******* Banana Republic. Makes no difference if it is Garland or some Leftwing jackwad from the Left Coast, does it? Swalwell, Inslee, Brown, Newsome, Schiff, all seeking more power to stifle your freedom.
He’s the WHITE Holder…
“He said statistics are clear that Black Americans and other people of color are treated differently by the justice system, and that all should be treated equally” Yep, Merrick, Obama was not prosecuted for the attempted coup against Trump. How is that for how “people of color are treated differently by the justice system? Has Al Sharpton been prosecuted Merrick for owning the IRS four and three quarter million dollars? Why weren’t the criminals in blm prosecuted, Merrick? Merrick, you also stated this was an armed insurrection, against the Capitol. Tucker, on his show last night, indicated that only two people had guns, Oh, and since you are white Merrick, you obviously fit into the category of being a “white supremacist”, don’t you, Merrick?
Sounds like the Inquisition !!!! Talk about healing and then promote this idiot to go after innocent people because they think you stole the election ??? The D-Rats are out for BLOOD . They ARE NOW The Party of Recrimination and Hate . How did we get to this disaster ??
WE LET THEM get in.. WE failed to FIGHT tooth and nail, to stop them.
On January 6th “some people did something”. “After all this time, what difference does it make?”
“Garland added that prosecution ….. could also include fundraisers and other organizers for the rally that turned into an assault.
Fact: “The Rally” did NOT turn into an assault. President Trump’s speech was still ongoing, a half hour walk away, during the riot.
Since John Sullivan, an admitted BLM activist, and one of the first people inside the Capitol, just seconds after the doors were opened, and a man who was there close enough to Ashli to see her shot, to give a detailed report, close enough to hear someone shout “gun” and see her die. I hope Garland Merritt has Sullivan’s name at the top of the list. Sullivan was encouraging anarchy, as well as filming a documentary to sell to TV stations which paid him and his photographer who both received $35,000.00 to produce his planned film. No one else mentioned hearing “gun” shouted, was it done to excite the armed officers, make the event more exciting, was it part of Sullivan’s documentary script? Garland would be remiss, bordering on complicit if he ignored the connection. Justice delayed is, I am told, is Justice denied.
HOPE all you want. BLM won’t ever get targeted by the leftists in charge.
On ABC news tonight I was watching video of the capital riots. It just hit me that most were carrying American flags and Chanting USA, USA !!!. But the FLI says they came for war. ??? Then you look at the mostly peaceful protest this summer ,you notice most are carrying bats ,knifes ,rocks and guns and Chanting revenge. !!??? So who really came for war ?? The someone’s carrying flags or ones carrying rock and knifes ???
AND don’t forget those who WERE BURNING US Flags, in those riots.
Everyone go back and look at the video of the capital riots and you will see most were carrying American flags. Most were changing USA USA. So when did carrying an American flag became a crime ?? And who do the democrats want to Prosecute ?? So it’s now a crime to carrying a American flags ?
Dem AGs are attack dogs for their Presidents. Barr was utterly useless prosecuting the Russian Collusion SCAMMERS. Dems use brass knuckles. So-called Repubs sit on their hands whether Congresskritters, Cabinet or DOJ.
Why do most people on the left look like they been drinking apple cider vinegar? What a joy they are.
I doubt they have ANY Joy..
“Persecuting” did he say??
Of course all the rioters on Jan. 6 were Trump voters, according to the dummycrats. So only Trump voters will be put on trail. Those innocent Antifa/BLM that plotted the attack and participated in it will be given a free pass for exercising their 1st Amendment rights. And no attempts to go after Antifa/BLM for wrecking several major cities will even be considered. This guy is just a white washed AG under Obama.
EVEN with the amount of evidence out there showing ANTIFA and such STAGED this attack, to make trump supporters look bad, NOTHING will be done to them, by their COMPLICT co-conspirators in office.
This is the same useful Idiot the Marxist Communists wanted for SCOTUS??? This guy has NO answers when asked about Today’s legal issues. He should be in the same Asylum as Senile Old Quid Pro Quo Joe.
For a Supreme Court nominee, this sure sounds politically-motivated. This would be scandalous if he had been nominated by a Republican, but as a Democrat this is business as usual.
The least the Republicans could do is call for him to recuse himself from the investigation due to bias, since it will doubtlessly encompass Senators who voted against his appointment in 2016. Of course it won’t happen, because Swamp Republicans always kiss up to Democrats.
Proof the republicans, have been worthless for years.