■ AG nominee Merrick Garland assured lawmakers that he would stay above the fray of politics.
AG pick faces queries on high-profile cases
WASHINGTON — Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s attorney general nominee, vowed Monday to prioritize combating extremist violence with an initial focus on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as he sought to assure lawmakers that the Justice Department would remain politically independent on his watch.
Garland sought repeatedly Monday to assure members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would stay above the fray of politics. He emphasized that he had never spoken to Biden about the federal tax investigation into his son Hunter Biden and pledged to resign as attorney general if needed to stand up to the White House.
While praising Garland for his record and his temperament, Republicans made clear that they will not give him a free pass if he is confirmed as attorney general.
“I just want to say I like you, I respect you, and I think you are a good pick for this job,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the panel and the former chairman who refused to hold confirmation hearings for Garland for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016. “But I have a lot of questions about how you are going to run the Department of Justice.”
Garland faced sustained questioning from senators about his plans to handle specific investigations and politically sensitive cases, such as the Hunter Biden investigation and the special counsel’s inquiry started by former Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the Trump-russia investigation. The latter investigation, led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, also remains open.
Under questioning from Grassley, Garland said he had not spoken to Durham yet but had no reason to second-guess Barr’s decision to give him special counsel status. Still, while expressing support for transparency at the Justice Department’s decision-making, Garland declined to commit to making public the results of the Durham investigation.