Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) – Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to testify before Congress on Tuesday about oversight of the Justice Department.
Garland is expected to hit back at lawmakers who have vowed to hold him in contempt, calling the effort “just the latest in a long line of attacks” on the Justice Department.
Effort to despise Garland
Last month, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Garland in contempt for his refusal to turn over audio records of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur. The effort of contempt was left in limbo, as it is unclear whether the Republican Party will be able to obtain enough votes to approve the measure in the plenary.
It’s a busy time for Garland to appear before some of the House’s biggest bomb-throwers, though a DOJ spokesperson said the attorney general plans to “forcefully reject false narratives about Department officials and their work.”
Several Republicans vented frustration with the DOJ about the conviction of former President Donald Trump by a New York jury, despite the fact that the agency has no control over the processes at the state level.
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim JordanR-Ohio, on Monday called for the elimination of federal funding for state prosecutors involved in “abusive ‘warfare’ tactics to target political opponents.”
Garland hopes to pull back on Tuesday
Garland on Tuesday will call such allegations a “conspiracy theory (that) is an attack on the judicial process itself.”
Representative Laurel Lee, Republican of Florida, said Tuesday on “Morning in America” that the main goal of the hearing is to address the “weaponization” of government.
“One of the most important things we can do in Congress is make sure we’re doing oversight,” Lee said. “The big picture here is the question about arming the government and whether two people – namely President Trump and President Biden – who committed similar acts are being treated the same way by our justice system.”
Biden impeachment investigation
The GOP’s interest in holding Garland in contempt comes, they say, as an offshoot of his impeachment investigation.
Both the Judiciary and the House Oversight Committee sent subpoenas to Garland asking a series of questions that sought to link the conversation about President Joe Biden’s investigation of confidential documents to his own investigation into influence peddling.
Biden claimed executive privilege over audio recordings of his interviews with Hur on the eve of committee meetings to vote on whether to hold Garland in contempt. – a detail that gives the attorney general protection against the handover of the files.
Republicans argue they need the audio for a broader investigation into whether Biden was involved in his family’s business. They say it could clarify whether Biden took steps to limit the prosecution of his son or whether he sought to limit the scope of the questions he was asked.
Democrats accused Republicans of wanting the audio to be used in campaign commercials.
The Hill contributed to this report.
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