Attorney General Merrick Garland advised his colleagues to “follow our norms” and pursue justice, not politics, in his final address at the Department of Justice on Jan. 16.
The norms, Garland stressed, include guaranteeing the independence of the DOJ’s investigations and prosecutions from both the White House and Congress.
The outgoing attorney general also weighed in on criticism that the Justice Department is corrupt and politically motivated, a viewpoint expressed by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies.
“The story that has been told by some outside of this building about what has happened inside of it is wrong. You have worked to pursue justice, not politics,“ Garland said in his speech. ”That is the truth and nothing can change it.”
Trump’s election win in the 2024 presidential election led to those charges being dropped, because based on the DOJ’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution it shouldn’t prosecute a sitting president.
Garland, in his farewell remarks, also said that the obligation of the attorney general is to “make clear that the only way for the Justice Department to do the right thing is to do it the right way.”
President Joe Biden nominated Garland as the nation’s top law enforcement official in 2021. In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland, who was considered a judicial moderate and centrist, to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans refused to consent to any nominee and said that the next president should select the justice after that year’s election.
Meanwhile, Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, was heavily questioned by lawmakers during Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing. Bondi said she won’t play politics as attorney general and pledged to lead a Justice Department free from political influence.
“If confirmed, I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components,” Bondi said.
