Send the news: According to his prepared opening statement released Saturday night, Garland plans to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that if confirmed, he will fight discrimination and domestic terrorism.
- He will highlight his career as a prosecutor – especially his oversight of the investigation into domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
- On the siege of the Capitol, Garland will say he intends to “oversee 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 an elected government. ‘
- Regarding the independence of the Attorney General’s position, Garland will say, “The President appoints the Attorney General as an advocate – not for any individual, but for the people of the United States.”
Background: Garland, 68, is a Chicago resident and graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, which has served on the District Court of Columbia District Court of Appeals since 1997.
- He was nominated by President Obama in 2016 to succeed the late Judge Antonin Scalia.
- But then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prevented this and insisted that the replacement be elected by the newly elected president later that year. Judge Neil Gorsuch was later confirmed under the Trump administration.
Remarkable: Former Trump administration attorney general Bill Barr has been criticized by Democrats during his tenure, accusing him of political interference in criminal cases on behalf of the former president – which he vehemently rejected.
- In his last press conference as attorney general in December, Barr took the rare step of publicly contradicting Trump over several buttons, including Hunter Biden, voting machines, and Russia behind the break-in of federal agencies.
Read Garland’s full opening statement via DocumentCloud:
Editor’s note: this article has been constantly updated with new details.