Garland vows return to ‘normal’ Justice Dept.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking the reins at the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland sought Thursday to assure career staffers that he would prioritize restoring the department’s reputation for political independence and ensuring equal justice after a tumultuous four years under former President Donald Trump.
“The only way we can succeed and retain the trust of the American people is to adhere to the norms that have become part of the DNA of every Justice Department employee,” Garland said in his first address to the department’s more than 115,000 employees.
“All of us are united by our commitment to the rule of law, and to seek an equal justice under law,” he said.
Welcome to the new
Justice Department, likely a much tamer place to be after four years of blaring headlines under Donald Trump.
The former president insisted that his attorney general, and entire department, be loyal to him personally, battering the department’s reputation for political independence. On Thursday, Garland signaled in his first address to staff — a formal, 10-minute speech inside the Great Hall at Justice Department headquarters, speaking virtually to staff with about 30 people spread across the large room — the department would return to its normal traditions away from the political sphere. President Joe Biden has also insisted the same.
Try though he may to stay out of politics, Garland is facing some immediate political challenges, including overseeing the ongoing criminal tax investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter, and the investigations and prosecutions stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.