Garland defends tenure, sends message of independence to DOJ workforce remaining in Trump administration

(WASHINGTON) — In his farewell address, an emotional Attorney General Merrick Garland sought to encourage an embattled Department of Justice facing uncertainty and to unabashedly defend his tenure and their work.

“I know that you have faced unfounded attacks simply for doing your jobs. At the very same time, you have risked your lives to protect our country from a range of foreign and domestic threats,” Garland said. “But 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. That is the truth. And nothing can change it.”

He took head-on the criticism that has been leveled at his leadership of the DOJ from both sides of the political aisle.

“But I also know that a lot has been said about this department by people outside of it — about what your job is and what it is not and about why you do your work the way you do,” he added. “I know that, over the years, some have criticized the department, saying that it has allowed politics to influence its decision-making. That criticism often came from people with political views opposite from one another, each making the exact opposite points about the same set of facts.”

Without ever mentioning President-elect Donald Trump’s name, Garland discussed the DOJ’s historic investigation of Jan. 6, which led to the now-closed prosecution of the incoming president.

“You charged more than 1,500 people for criminal conduct that occurred during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as well as in the days and weeks leading up to the attack. You brought to justice those who kicked, punched, beat and Tased law enforcement officers protecting the Capitol that day. And you pursued accountability for that attack on our democracy wherever it led — guided only by your commitment to follow the facts and the law,” Garland said.

“Our norms are a promise to treat like cases alike — that we will not have one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for friends and another for foes,” he said earlier in the speech.

Speaking to the over 114,000-person career workforce that will remain into Trump’s next tenure, he urged them to retain the DOJ’s independence, no matter the challenge.

“We know that only an independent Justice Department can protect the safety and civil rights of everyone in our country. And we know that only an independent Justice Department can ensure that the facts and law alone will determine whether a person is investigated or prosecuted,” Garland said. “It is the obligation of each of us to adhere to our norms even when — and especially when — the circumstances we face are not normal.”

And he was adamant that there are times when the attorney general has to have the backs of a department that will often do things that will make people angry on the Left and the Right.

“The attorney general must not just lead this department’s workforce but must respect it and, when necessary, defend it. It is the responsibility of every employee of the Justice Department to do what is right. And it is the obligation of the attorney general to have their backs when they do,” Garland said. “That is what you have done. And that is the kind of attorney general I have tried to be.”

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