Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland promised Saturday to vigorously prosecute those who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol last month.
AFP reports testimony has been prepared for Garland’s confirmation hearing on Monday and Tuesday, with U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick saying he wants to lay out his agenda.
Garland, 68, reportedly said if confirmed, he would reaffirm “policies that protect the independence of the department from partisan influence in law enforcement investigations (and) that strictly regulate communications with the White House.”
He also promised to create clear guidelines for FBI investigations while addressing civil rights.
“The Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the Department’s Civil Rights Division, with the mission ‘to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society,'” Garland said.
“That mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice.”
Born and raised in Illinois and educated at Harvard, Garland claimed a serious threat of extremism is spread across the country, as exemplified by the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, which shuttered the legislature as lawmakers met to certify Biden’s election win.
The Justice Department has already charged some 230 people in that event and is investigating hundreds more, with the possibility of charging some with seditious conspiracy.
“If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government,” Garland said.
As Breitbart News reported, Garland, who currently serves as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, gained notoriety in 2016 when former President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The move failed to receive a hearing in the Republican-controlled Senate at the time.
AFP contributed to this story
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