AG Merrick Garland testifies on DOJ oversight

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before Congress on Tuesday about Department of Justice oversight.

Garland pushed back against lawmakers who have vowed to hold him in contempt, casting the effort as “only the most recent in a long line of attacks” on the Justice Department.

“I will not be intimidated, and the Justice Department will not be intimidated,” Garland said. “We will continue to do our jobs free from political influence and we will not back down from defending democracy.”

During his testimony, Garland choked up a bit when addressing Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., on how important the rule of law is and the safety of the people who work for him.

“An attack on the rule of law tears down the confidence in the basic fundamental element of our democracy that all people will be treated equal,” Garland said. “I intend to continue to protect the rule of law, to protect the 115,000 career employees of my department, to make sure that they can continue to go about their job; which is to do the right thing every day and not to be distracted by outside influences political or otherwise.”

Effort to hold Garland in contempt

Last month, the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight Committee voted to hold Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over audio records of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur. The contempt effort has been left in limbo, as it’s unclear whether the GOP will be able to secure enough votes to pass the measure on the full floor.

It’s a busy time for Garland to appear before some of the House’s biggest bomb throwers, though a spokesperson for the DOJ said ahead of the hearing that the attorney general planned to “forcefully push back on false narratives regarding the Department’s employees and their work.”

Numerous Republicans have vented frustration toward the DOJ over former President Donald Trump’s conviction by a New York jury, although the agency has no control over state-level prosecutions.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Monday called for eliminating federal funding for state prosecutors engaged in “abusive ‘lawfare’ tactics to target political opponents.”

Garland expected to push back Tuesday

Garland on Tuesday called such claims a “conspiracy theory (that) is an attack on the judicial process itself.”

Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., said Tuesday on “Morning in America” that the big picture for the hearing is to address the “weaponization” of government.

“One of the most important things that we can do in Congress is make sure we are conducting oversight,” Lee said. “The big picture here is the question about weaponization of government and whether two people — namely President Trump and President Biden — who have committed similar acts are being treated the same way by our justice system.”

Biden’s impeachment investigation

The GOP’s interest in holding Garland in contempt comes, they say, as an offshoot of their impeachment investigation.

Both the Judiciary and the House Oversight committees sent subpoenas to Garland asking a series of questions seeking to tie the conversation about Biden’s classified documents probe back to their own investigation about influence peddling.

Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio recordings of his interviews with Hur on the eve of the committee’s meetings to vote over whether to hold Garland in contempt — a detail that provides the attorney general cover from having to turn over the files. 

Republicans argue they need the audio for a broader investigation into whether Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings. They say it may shed light on whether Biden took action to limit prosecution of his son, or whether he sought to limit the scope of questions asked of him. 

Democrats have accused Republicans of wanting the audio to be used for campaign commercials.

The Hill contributed to this report.