Attorney General Merrick Garland is taking aim at what he says are “unfounded” attacks against the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In an op-ed published by The Washington Post, Garland noted a man was arrested last week for threatening to bomb an FBI field office.
“These heinous threats of violence have become routine in an environment in which the Justice Department is under attack like never before,” he continued. “In recent weeks, we have seen an escalation of attacks that go far beyond public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work. They are baseless, personal and dangerous.”
The op-ed noted such “attacks come in the form of threats to defund particular department investigations, most recently the special counsel’s prosecution of the former president.”
Additionally, Garland stated, “They come in the form of conspiracy theories crafted and spread for the purpose of undermining public trust in the judicial process itself. Those include false claims that a case brought by a local district attorney and resolved by a jury verdict in a state trial was somehow controlled by the Justice Department.”
“They come in the form of false claims that the department is politicizing its work to somehow influence the outcome of an election. Such claims are often made by those who are themselves attempting to politicize the department’s work to influence the outcome of an election,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sexual encounter he had with adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
After the verdict was announced, he claimed, “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man. It’s okay. I’m fighting for our country, I’m fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt a political opponent.”
However, Garland has previously noted the prosecution was brought by a district attorney and the Justice Department does not have the ability to control that office.
In his op-ed, he mentioned reports that there is “an ongoing effort to ramp up these attacks against the Justice Department, its work and its employees.”
“We will not be intimidated by these attacks. But it is absurd and dangerous that public servants, many of whom risk their lives every day, are being threatened for simply doing their jobs and adhering to the principles that have long guided the Justice Department’s work,” he added.
He went on:
“The Justice Department makes decisions about criminal investigations based only on the facts and the law. We do not investigate people because of their last name, their political affiliation, the size of their bank account, where they come from or what they look like. We investigate and prosecute violations of federal law — nothing more, nothing less.”
Garland vowed the department will “continue to uphold its obligation under the Constitution to fiercely defend the right of all Americans to peacefully express opinions, beliefs and ideas. Disagreements about politics are good for our democracy. They are normal.”
“But using conspiracy theories, falsehoods, violence and threats of violence to affect political outcomes is not normal. The short-term political benefits of those tactics will never make up for the long-term cost to our country,” he added.
Finally, he wrote, “Continued unfounded attacks against the Justice Department’s employees are dangerous for people’s safety. They are dangerous for our democracy. This must stop.”
