Capitol riot probe will be Garland’s first priority
Biden’s attorney general nominee testifies at confirmation hearing
Washington — Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland said Monday that his first briefing and top priority if confirmed as attorney general would center on the sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and he more broadly vowed to stamp out the rising threat of domestic terrorism.
Testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland drew parallels to the domestic terrorism threat the Justice Department faced in confronting the Ku Klux Klan, as well as the prosecution he led of Timothy McVeigh in the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
“We are facing a more dangerous period than we faced in Oklahoma City at that time,” Garland asserted, promising a broad investigation into the rioters and those who aided them.
“We begin with the people on the ground, and we work our way up to those who are involved and further involved,” Garland said. He added: “We also have to have a focus on what is happening all over the country and on where this could spread, and where this came from.”
Garland, a judge on the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is expected to be confirmed with bipartisan support, though Monday’s hearing offered Democrats and Republicans a chance to press the nominee on how he will manage the department.
Republicans sought to extract promises of specific investigations and prosecutions in politically sensitive cases, particularly special counsel John Durham’s review of the FBI’s 2016 investigation of Donald Trump’s campaign. As Democrats said the Justice Department had been politicized in the Trump administration, Republicans aired their displeasure with actions in the Obama administration and asked Garland to assure them that he would not return to Obama-era policies.
Garland said he saw “no reason” to end the Durham probe — though he also declined to provide a firm commitment to giving Durham the time and resources to finish his work.
Garland told Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that, if confirmed, he would speak with the special counsel. Grassley pressed Garland on whether he would only remove Durham “for cause.”
“I really do have to have an opportunity to talk with him. I have not had that opportunity,” Garland responded. “As I said, I don’t have any reason from what I know now — which is really, really very little — to make any determination on that ground. But I don’t have any reason to think that he should not remain in place.”
Garland also declined to commit to making Durham’s findings public, though he said he generally favored transparency.
The exchange seemed to partially mollify Grassley, who said, “I think you’ve come close to satisfying me, but maybe not entirely.” Grassley noted that when then-attorney general nominee William Barr appeared before the committee, he had offered a more firm endorsement of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
“It’s vitally important that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation,” Barr said at the time.