Politics live updates: Garland says deaths of Black Americans could spur investigations of police
Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Monday that he expected the panel to vote on Merrick Garland’s nomination to become attorney general on March 1 with a full Senate vote the same week after hearings Monday and Tuesday.
“Fingers crossed, everything goes smoothly,” Durbin said.
— Bart Jansen
Garland says deaths of Black Americans could spur investigations of police
Merrick Garland, the nominee to become attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was shocked to see videos of Black Americans last summer being killed, but that the revelations and protests created a moment to find remedies.
“I was shocked by what I saw,” Garland said. “It did bring everything to the fore.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., noted that Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery being shot to death after being pursued by three white men while jogging in Glynn County, Georgia. Ossoff said without pressure from the NAACP, charges wouldn’t have been filed in the case.
Ossoff asked whether Garland would launch more investigations of local police departments. The Trump administration opened one “pattern and practice” investigation during four years, after the Obama administration launched 25 investigations during eight years.
Garland said the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division could investigate police, with remedies including consent decrees, criminal prosecution of abusive officers and funding for police departments to reform themselves. He argued that good police officers would welcome reforms to weed out the bad.
“Officers who follow the law and constitution want that accountability,” Garland said. “Whether we need additional tools, I don’t know.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked later who would decide who has implicit bias.
“Somebody’s got to make that subjective judgment,” Kennedy said. “How do you know who wins?”
Garland said everyone has biases and stereotypes. The department would investigate when an institution has a pattern of biased behavior that could be identified and remedied.
“You shouldn’t take it as pejorative,” Garland said. “It’s an element of the human condition.”
— Bart Jansen
Garland says he hasn’t considered thorny gender equity issue
Navigating fairness in sports competition for gender equity is a difficult question that Merrick Garland, the nominee to become attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he hasn’t considered fully.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked whether "biological males" competing in an all-female sports would deprive women of the opportunity to compete in sports.
“This is a very difficult societal question that you’re asking here,” Garland said.
Kennedy said he could become attorney general, but Garland said he might not be the one to make such policy decisions.
“Every human being should be treated with dignity and respect,” Garland said. “I agree that this is a difficult question.”
— Bart Jansen
Garland gripped by emotion discussing family, passion for job
Merrick Garland was briefly gripped with emotion Monday when he recounted his Jewish family’s flight from persecution, drawing on that experience as a call to public service.
“I feel an obligation to pay back to the country that took us in,” Garland said, his voice cracking while responding to Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J.
The sentiment expressed by the nominee caused the hearing room to fall silent, as senators, aides and reporters directed their attention to Garland’s chair.
— Kevin Johnson and Christal Hayes
Garland agrees justice system has 'implicit bias'
Merrick Garland, the nominee to become attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that the justice system doesn’t treat defendants equally because of implicit bias in how charges are pursued.
“Sadly, it is plain to me that it does not,” Garland said. “There is no question that there is disparate treatment in our justice system.”
Garland said one example is mass incarceration, with the U.S. holding 25% of the world’s jailed population despite having only 5% of the world’s population.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said there were more arrests for marijuana possession in 2019 than for all violent crime combined. Black Americans were three to four times more likely than whites to be charged, he said.
“It is shocking,” Booker said.
Garland said the figures were “definitely evidence of disparate treatment in the system,” whether conscious or unconscious of the officials pressing charges.
— Bart Jansen
Garland on difference between Portland protests, Capitol riot
Republican senators asked Merrick Garland, the attorney general nominee, whether racial justice protests, as those happened at the federal courthouse in Portland, constituted “violent extremism,” which is how he described the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Garland said he would have to look at specific incidents to determine charges. But he said he drew the line for “domestic extremism” or “terrorism” at preventing federal judges from doing their jobs during the day. Attacking a courthouse property at night would be “a serious crime,” but a different one, he said.
“That’s where I draw the line. Both are criminal,” Garland said. “But one is a core attack on our democratic institutions.”
— Bart Jansen
Garland says he and Biden oppose 'defunding the police'
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland stated that both he and President Joe Biden do not support the movement of defunding the police.
He said funding and resources should be used “in alternative ways” to better address those who are “mentally ill and those who are suicidal so that police officers don’t have to do a job they are not trained for” and rather, mental health professionals can step in during those situations.
“President Biden believes in giving the resources to police departments to help them reform and gain the trust of their communities,” Garland said.
— Savannah Behrmann
More: Sen. Ted Cruz questions AG nominee Merrick Garland. After Mexico trip, should he quarantine?
Garland: Handling of Epstein case ‘horrendous’
Merrick Garland, the nominee to become the country’s law enforcement officer as attorney general, called the treatment of sex-trafficking suspect Jeffrey Epstein “horrendous,” but said he couldn’t comment on why the Justice Department acted the way it did.
Epstein, who died by suicide in jail, was indicted in 2019 on suspicion of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of minor girls at his homes in New York and Florida. Federal prosecutors in New York alleged that for years, Epstein paid some of his victims to recruit more underage girls.
But the charges came years after former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta resolved a sex-crimes case through a non-prosecution deal without notifying his alleged victims. A Justice Department investigation found Acosta showed “poor judgment,” but Acosta said the review debunked allegations he cut a “sweetheart deal.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said Epstein evaded charges for years and then “infuriatingly” was allowed to die by suicide in federal detention despite officials knowing he was at risk. He asked Garland where the department went wrong.
“This is horrendous,” Garland said. “He obviously should have been vigorously prosecuted earlier. I don’t know why” he wasn’t.
— Bart Jansen
Garland expects return to death penalty moratorium
Merrick Garland told a Senate committee weighing his confirmation as attorney general that he expected that a new moratorium would be declared on federal executions.
Garland said he harbored “great” concern about the application of the death penalty by the federal government, which dramatically resumed executions during the Trump administration.
Thirteen federal inmates were executed during the last months of Trump’s administration.
Garland said continuing exonerations of the wrongly convicted have given him “pause,” and he cited President Joe Biden’s strong opposition to capital punishment.
“A most terrible thing happens when someone is executed for a crime that they did not commit,” Garland said.
Before executions were resumed by the Trump administrations, the federal government had paused capital punishment for 17 years.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland: 'I am not the president’s lawyer'
Merrick Garland asserted Monday that he would rebuff any attempt by the White House to politicize the Justice Department, declaring: “I am not the president’s lawyer; I am the United States’ lawyer.”
President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, responding to questions posed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would “fend off” any attempt at political interference.
“My job is protect the Department of Justice,” Garland said.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland supports ‘any legislation’ to boost voting
Merrick Garland told senators Monday at his confirmation hearing to become attorney general that he would support any legislation that encourages more voters to cast ballots in elections.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked about approving a new Voting Rights Act to prevent a growing scourge of voter suppression. Garland said he was unfamiliar with the specifics of proposed legislation, but that one-third of eligible voters hadn’t turned out in 2020 despite a huge increase in voting last year.
“Any legislation that will encourage more voting, I strongly support,” Garland said.
He said a portion of election law prevents interference with voting practices and procedures. He said the department has other tools to protect the right to vote.
— Bart Jansen
Law enforcement officials to testify Tuesday before Senate panel
Top Capitol law enforcement officials were set to testify Tuesday before key Senate panels after being invited to testify, a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee aide not authorized to speak on the record said.
Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules and Administration Committee would be some of the first public testimony from top Capitol law enforcement officials as lawmakers probed the buildup to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and the subsequent response.
The four officials are:
Acting Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee
Former U.S. Capitol Police chief Steven Sund
Former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger
Former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving.
Sund, Stenger, and Irving all resigned in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.
Lawmakers are set to ask questions about failures in preparation by law enforcement. Officers were overwhelmed by rioters on Jan. 6 despite intelligence suggesting protests could turn violent, and the Capitol Police Union has faulted their leadership for insufficient preparation and equipment for officers.
— Nicholas Wu
Garland supports top-level approval of subpoenas for journalists
Merrick Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing to become attorney general that he would uphold a policy to personally approve any subpoenas issued to reporters.
Garland said he worked on the policy in the aftermath of the Watergate investigation nearly 50 years ago.
“This is something I’m deeply committed to,” Garland told Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., whose father was a journalist. “I would expect to reup those guidelines.”
— Bart Jansen
Senate Republicans express support for Garland
Key Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled their early support Monday for attorney general nominee Merrick Garland, describing him as “a good pick” for the job.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican; South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee’s former chairman, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn appeared to favor the nominee.
Cornyn said his consideration of Garland’s nomination rested on a promise that the judge would not tolerate political interference.
“I would not have taken this job if politics had any influence over prosecutions,” Garland said, adding that he would “resign” if he was pressured to do otherwise.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland: Foreign terror 'top of mind'
Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland said Monday the prospect for foreign terrorist attack remains a top priority, particularly on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Garland told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., he didn’t know whether Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State would attempt an attack. But Garland said that he was arriving at his office when the first plane hit the World Trade Center and could see from his office the smoke rising at the Pentagon.
“Of all the other things that the Justice Department has to do, it must always keep its eye on the ball with respect to foreign terrorist attack,” Garland said. “I can assure you this is top of mind for me.”
— Bart Jansen
Garland: Biden has pledged no DOJ interference
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland said that President Joe Biden has pledged that he would not intervene in Justice Department investigations, indicating that he expected the department would remain free from partisan political interference.
Garland pledged that Justice investigation would proceed “without regard for partisanship” or the political influence of subjects of those investigations.
“I am a strong believer in following the processes of the department,” Garland said, adding that he “respected” the authority of the department’s inspector general to investigate possible misconduct.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland calls Capitol attack 'most heinous' assault on democracy
Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland Monday called the Capitol attack the “most heinous” assault on American democracy.
As one of his first acts, if confirmed, Garland said he would meet with prosecutors and pledge to provide all the resources necessary to push the inquiry forward.
“This was the most heinous attack on democratic processes I’ve ever seen,” Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Garland said he would urge investigators to examine “more broadly” the origins of the attack and determine the risk of future assaults.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland: No talk with Biden about son’s investigation
Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee to become attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that he hasn’t discussed a pending federal investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
“I have not,” Garland said. “The president made abundantly clear in every public statement before and after my nomination that decisions about investigations and prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department.”
Hunter Biden announced in December that the U.S. attorney in Delaware was investigating his taxes. Republicans have questioned his business dealings in Ukraine and China, but the president has stood behind his son.
— Bart Jansen
Garland: 'No reason' to question status of Russia counsel Durham
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland told lawmakers that he had “no reason” to question the status of the special prosecutor leading a continuing investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation.
If confirmed, Garland said he intended to meet with prosecutor John Durham, who was appointed by former Attorney General William Barr.
The Biden administration has pledged to allow Durham to complete the investigation.
— Kevin Johnson
‘More dangerous’ time than Oklahoma City, Garland says
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland said the country faces a “more dangerous period” than the forces that sparked the Oklahoma City bombing, which still stands as the most deadly domestic terror attack in U.S. history.
Garland, who oversaw the prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols, vowed to lead the now far-reaching investigation into the deadly Capitol attack, which left five dead.
— Kevin Johnson
Padilla to ask Garland about voting rights
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, a former attorney general of California, told reporters Monday that Merrick Garland brings “impressive credentials” to become attorney general, but that he wanted to ask about protecting civil rights and voting rights.
“I am proud of the work that was done in California to build a very inclusive democracy and accessible democracy,” Padilla said. “I'm also reminded that, look, the voter suppression is rooted in white supremacy.”
— Bart Jansen
Garland: Role of AG is to 'serve the rule of law and ensure equal justice'
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland on Monday called for a restoration of Justice Department "norms" as guardrails against the influence of partisan politics that have threatened the agency's independence from the White House.
Garland, testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, also vowed to pursue equal justice for marginalized communities of color while leading a battle against extremism that broke into the open during last month's deadly Capitol attack.
"The president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer – not for any individual, but for the people of the United States," Garland told the panel. "It is a fitting time to reaffirm that the role of the attorney general is to serve the rule of law and to ensure equal justice under the law."
Garland, a former top Justice official who last served in that department during the Clinton administration, said he would reaffirm a host of standards including those that "strictly regulate communications with the White House."
President Joe Biden has described his selection of Garland, now a federal appeals court judge, as an attempt to turn the page at a department roiled by politics and efforts by former President Donald Trump to use the institution to advance his political interests.
— Kevin Johnson
Grassley unapologetic about blocking Garland from Supreme Court
The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, said Monday at Merrick Garland’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general that he was unapologetic about refusing to hold a hearing on Garland’s 2016 nomination to join the Supreme Court.
Former President Barack Obama nominated Garland after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. But Republicans who controlled the Senate refused to consider the nomination during an election year.
“As you’ll recall, it was an election year with a divided Congress,” said Grassley, who said the decision was consistent with Democratic statements.
Democrats, including President Joe Biden, railed against the stonewall. But the vacancy was eventually filled by former President Donald Trump with Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Grassley said he admired Garland’s public service, as a longtime prosecutor and federal appeals court judge. But Grassley alluded to the contentious confirmation hearing for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“Yes, it’s true I didn’t give Judge Garland a hearing,” Grassley said. “I also didn’t mischaracterize his record. I didn’t attack his character. I didn’t go through his high school yearbook. I didn’t make his wife leave the hearing in tears. I took a position and stuck to it. That’s it.”
— Bart Jansen
Grassley: Garland ‘a good pick for this job’
Signaling that attorney general nominee Merrick Garland is likely to win bipartisan support, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican, called the federal appeals court judge “a good pick for this job.”
“No one doubts that Judge Garland is qualified” to lead the Justice Department, Grassley said.
— Kevin Johnson
Garland to have ‘solemn responsibility’ to lead Capitol inquiry
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin said attorney general nominee Merrick Garland, if confirmed, faces a “solemn responsibility” to lead a now far-reaching investigation of the deadly Capitol attack.
“You know what it’s like to confront the specter of domestic terrorism,” Durbin said, recalling Garland’s past oversight of domestic terror investigations. “You led the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing and, in doing so, helped make this nation safer and bring some measure of peace and healing to the victims and their families.
“I am confident, given this prior experience, that you are up to the task that the Department now faces in the wake of January 6th. In fact, I can think of no one better suited. I look forward to the hearing,” he said.
— Kevin Johnson
Durbin: Nation looks to Garland to restore Justice Department's independence
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin on Monday cast attorney general nominee Merrick Garland as the person to “meet the moment” to lead a Justice Department ruled by “brute political forces” of the Trump administration.
In a stark opening statement at Garland’s confirmation hearing, Durbin, the Illinois Democrat, said the nation “looks to you” to restore department independence.
“Judge Garland, should you be confirmed — and I have every confidence that you will be — you will oversee a Justice Department in an existential moment,” Durbin said. “After four tumultuous years of intrigue, controversy, and brute political forces, the future course of the Department is clearly in transition.
“Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his successor, Bill Barr, the Justice Department became an arm of the White House, committed to advancing the interests of President Trump, his family, and his political allies,” he said.
— Kevin Johnson
Blumenthal seeks crackdown on violent extremism
Sen. Richard Blumenthal told reporters before Merrick Garland’s confirmation hearing that he expected the appeals-court judge to restore integrity at the Justice Department, if confirmed as attorney general.
“Merrick Garland will bring a luster of integrity and common sense to the Department of Justice, which has been lacking for the past four years,” said Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I'm hoping what we'll see is a commitment to crack down on violent extremism and on racial injustice.”
— Bart Jansen
Durbin expects Garland confirmation
Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Monday he expected Merrick Garland to be confirmed as the next attorney general, but first the panel scheduled a two-day hearing on his nomination.
“He has a big job to do,” Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters before the hearing. “First, he must restore the morale and the integrity of the Department of Justice. He is the man for the job.”
When asked about how Garland would handle lingering investigations from the Trump administration, Durbin said he trusted the judgment of the federal appeals judge.
“There are many people who want him to engage in a political agenda I think that will not be his priority,” Durbin said. “His priority is first the investigation on the January 6 mob invasion of this Capitol. And secondly, really moving us forward as a nation to restore the values the department of Justice always stood for.”
— Bart Jansen
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland Senate confirmation hearing opens
President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Justice Department, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland, began his confirmation hearings Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In his prepared opening statement, Garland vows to "protect the independence of the department from partisan influence" after four years in which critics assailed President Donald Trump for regularly venting his opinions on ongoing investigations, particularly ones involving himself and his allies.
Garland also pledges to prosecute the "white supremacists and others" who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in what he calls "a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy." And, arguing "we do not yet have equal justice," Garland promises in his statement to continue the Civil Rights Division's mission to protect the rights of the "most vulnerable members of our society."
Though his eventual confirmation is expected, Biden's nominee will likely face questions about how he would maintain the DOJ's independence amid lingering questions over Trump's alleged role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot, an ongoing federal tax investigation involving the president's son Hunter Biden and the pending inquiry into the origins of the Russian investigation led by Connecticut federal prosecutor John Durham.
– William Cummings and Kevin Johnson
Dominion Voting to sue MyPillow Inc. CEO Mike Lindell
Dominion Voting Systems has sued MyPillow Inc. CEO Mike Lindell, alleging $1.2 billion in damages to its brand for defamatory comments Lindell repeatedly made about the firm.
The complaint accuses Lindell of perpetuating a “Big Lie” about Dominion’s role in the 2020 presidential election, including that he knowingly spread false information about how Dominion’s voting machines conduct audits, investments from foreign countries and its presence in U.S. voting systems.
Lindell “knowingly lied about Dominion to sell more pillows to people who continued tuning in to hear what they wanted to hear about the election,” the complaint alleges.
After Dominion first indicated it might sue him, Lindell amplified his allegations against the company in a documentary he published about the company, amplifying multiple pieces of misinformation.
“Instead of retracting his lies, Lindell — a multimillionaire with a nearly unlimited ability to broadcast his preferred messages on conservative media — whined that he was being 'censored' and 'attacked' and produced a 'docu-movie' featuring shady characters and fake documents sourced from dark corners of the internet,” the complaint reads.
Conspiracy theories about Dominion and other election security firms circulated widely in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Dominion joins voting systems firm Smartmatic, which recently filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News, in taking legal action against major right-wing media personalities for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election.
— Matthew Brown
Sen. Susan Collins declares her opposition to OMB nominee Neera Tanden
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Monday morning that she will not vote to confirm President Joe Biden's nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden.
"Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend," Collins said in a statement.
Tanden, a veteran of Democratic politics who most recently served as the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, has come under fire in the confirmation process for her past tweets criticizing Republicans and some progressive Democrats.
More: Why Biden is standing firm on budget pick Neera Tanden despite pushback from left and right
For instance, Tanden has called Collins "the worst," "a fake defender of Roe v. Wade" and accused her of "flat out deception" for her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
"I did not know her – much about her – but I've heard that she's a very prolific user of Twitter," Collins told reporters in November.
Biden needs at least one Republican to vote in Tanden's favor for his nominee to be confirmed after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced last week that he would be voting against her.
– Matthew Brown
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Politics live updates: Merrick Garland Senate confirmation begins
