Garland pushes back against the GOP's accusations of political bias in DOJ: "I am not the president's lawyer"
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
US Attorney General Merrick Garland is sworn in before testifying at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Attorney General Merrick Garland in his opening statement Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee rebuked congressional Republicans who have accused the Justice Department of political bias.
"Our job is not to do what is politically convenient. Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress or from anyone else about who or what we criminally investigate," he said.
He added: "As the president has said, I reaffirm today, I am not the president's lawyer. I will add I am not Congress' prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people. Our job is to follow the facts and the law. That is what we do. All of us recognize that with this work comes public scrutiny, criticism and legitimate oversight."
"These are appropriate and important given the matters and the gravity of the matters that are before the department, but singling out individual career public servants who are just doing their jobs is dangerous, particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of public servants and their families. We will not be intimidated. We will do our jobs free from outside influence and we will not back down from defending our democracy," he told lawmakers.
10:26 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
House Judiciary Chair Jordan rails against Hunter Biden investigation: "The fix is in"
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio speaks at the opening of a hearing of the House Committee on the Judiciary oversight of the US Department of Justice, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 20, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan railed on Wednesday against the Justice Department’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, at a hearing where Republicans are facing off against Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“The fix is in. Even with the face-saving indictment last week of Hunter Biden, everyone knows the fix is in,” the Republican said in his opening statement.
Jordan launched several criticisms of the four-year investigation into Hunter Biden and of David Weiss, the US attorney leading the investigation into Hunter Biden, who requested special counsel status last month after a plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges fell apart amid scrutiny from a judge.
Jordan said that Garland should not have named Weiss special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation.
“He picks the one guy, the one guy he knows will protect Joe Biden. He picks David Weiss,” Jordan said of Garland.
Jordan and House Republicans have pointed to testimony from an IRS whistleblower alleging political interference in the Hunter Biden investigation, though other FBI and IRS officials have disputed some of the allegations.
Jordan also was critical of the Justice Department’s unprecedented search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year, along with the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith – all topics that Republicans are expected to grill Garland about on Wednesday.
10:31 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
Top Democrat in House Judiciary Committee says GOP wants to talk about "conspiracy theories"
From CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz
New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Judiciary Committee's ranking member, used his opening statement in today's hearing to accuse Republicans of peddling conspiracy theories.
Nadler also lambasted Republicans for their focus on the investigation into Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, who was recently indicted on gun charges in Delaware.
“We could work with the Department of Justice and Attorney General Garland to address any number of real, substantive problems facing the American people,” Nadler said.
He continued, “instead, House Republicans will use their time today to talk about long-discredited conspiracy theories and Hunter Biden’s laptop. And they will do it because they care more about Donald Trump than they do about their own constituents.”
The hearing, which features testimony from Garland, will be less substantive because of Republican political pandering, Nadler said.
“If it were up to the Republicans, Americans would hear nothing about any of these substantive issues today,” Nadler said. “They would hear nothing about the rise in domestic terrorism and what the Justice Department is doing about it. They would hear nothing about what the Department is doing to stop hate crimes and prevent gun violence. They would hear nothing about how the Department is disrupting efforts by Russia, China, and others to interfere in our elections.”
10:14 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
NOW: Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before GOP-led House Judiciary Committee
From CNN staff
US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Pool
The House Judiciary Committee hearing, where Republicans are expected to grill Attorney General Merrick Garland about his role and the Department of Justice, is now in session.
The hearing comes after US Attorney-turned special counsel David Weiss indicted President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and amid an impeachment inquiry against Biden.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan kicked off the hearing by slamming Hunter Biden’s now-scuttled plea deal in July and Garland's decision to name Weiss as special counsel.
Excerpts from Garland's prepared testimony indicate that he will push back against the GOP's accusations of political bias in the Justice Department, telling lawmakers he's "not the President’s lawyer.”
He's also expected to say that the Justice Department’s job is “to pursue justice, without fear or favor” and not to “do what is politically convenient” or “take orders from the President, from Congress, or from anyone else about who or what to criminally investigate.”
Garland's appearance will be for a standard oversight hearing on the Justice Department, which is routine for top-level executive branch officials.
12:40 p.m. ET, September 20, 2023
This is who's on the panel that Garland is set to testify before soon
From CNN staff
Attorney General Merrick Garland is set to testify soon in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
The standard oversight hearing will be before a panel that includes a number of House Republicans who are Garland's toughest critics. Some have even called for his impeachment.
CNN's Annie Grayer and Alayna Treene contributed reporting.
10:02 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
"I am not the President’s lawyer": Here's a look at excerpts of Attorney General Garland's expected remarks
From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Hannah Rabinowitz
US Attorney General Merrick Garland arrives at a reception hosted by President Joe Biden to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 28, 2023. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to forcefully rebuke congressional Republicans who have accused the Justice Department of political bias, according to excerpts of his prepared testimony to be delivered at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.
“I am not the President’s lawyer,” Garland is expected to say, according to the excerpts obtained by CNN. “I will also add that I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.”
Garland will deliver the statement as he faces vitriol from Republicans, who accuse him of failing to protect the department from politicization, and dissatisfaction from Democrats, who say the department has been too timid in going after former President Donald Trump.
Republicans on the panel are expected to grill Garland with questions about the investigation into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and his now-scuttled plea deal, as well as special counsel Jack Smith’s two indictments of Trump.
Against that backdrop, Garland will tell lawmakers that the department welcomes “public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate oversight,” but “singling out individual career public servants who are just doing their jobs is dangerous – particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of public servants and their families.”
CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
9:58 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
Today's hearing is likely to offer a preview of the House Republican’s impeachment inquiry into Biden
From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Hannah Rabinowitz
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy addresses reporters after a House Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol on September 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Attorney General Merrick Garland's hearing this morning before the House Judiciary committee is likely to offer a preview of the Republican’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden – which will have its first hearing next week – and the partisan brawling that will accompany it.
The bulk of the allegations Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republicans are investigating in the impeachment inquiry relate to Hunter Biden’s business dealings, though Republicans have uncovered no evidence to date that the president personally received any money. The House Judiciary Committee has also been probing allegations from an IRS whistleblower that the Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden was politically tainted.
Despite the partisan rancor of the political probes and the looming impeachment inquiry, Garland is unlikely to say much about either the Hunter Biden or Trump investigations because they are ongoing.
Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the panel’s top Democrat, charged that Republicans had “poisoned” the committee’s oversight role.
“They have wasted countless taxpayer dollars on baseless investigations into President Biden and his family, desperate to find evidence for impeachment and desperate to distract from the mounting legal peril facing Donald Trump,” Nadler plans to say, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
9:55 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has floated a potential impeachment inquiry into Garland
From CNN's Andrew Millman
Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the possibility that the House could open an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland over Internal Revenue Service whistleblower allegations that Justice Department leadership improperly interfered in the Hunter Biden probe, which Garland has denied.
“If it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we’re going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general,” McCarthy told Fox News in June.
In congressional testimony publicly released this summer, two IRS whistleblowers alleged to lawmakers that the president’s son had been given preferential treatment by the Justice Department.
McCarthy said on Fox News that the IRS agents who came forward “watched the abuse of power in how Hunter Biden was treated.”
The allegation that the DOJ has been politicized against conservatives has been central to how House Republicans approach their congressional investigations, though there is scant evidence backing up most of their claims.
Garland rejected those claims during a news conference in June.
“Some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department … by claiming that we do not treat like cases alike,” Garland said. “This constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to American democracy … nothing could be further from the truth.”
New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials now cast doubt on key claims from the IRS whistleblower who alleged there was political interference in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden’s taxes.
Calls to impeach Garland have quieted down as House Republicans have turned their impeachment lens on President Joe Biden himself.
CNN's Jeremy Herb and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed reporting to this post.
9:46 a.m. ET, September 20, 2023
Witness testimony disputes IRS whistleblower allegations in Hunter Biden probe
From CNN's Annie Grayer and Jeremy Herb
Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testify in the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing about alleged meddling in the Justice Department's investigation of Hunter Biden on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, on July 19, 2023. Leah Millis/Reuters
New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials casts doubt on key claims from an IRS whistleblower who alleges there was political interference in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden’s taxes.
According to transcripts provided to CNN, several FBI and IRS officials brought in for closed-door testimony by House Republicans in recent days said they don’t remember US Attorney David Weiss saying that he lacked the authority to decide whether to bring charges against the president’s son, or that Weiss said he had been denied a request for special counsel status.
Those twin claims, made by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, form the basis of Republican accusations that the Justice Department’s investigation into Biden’s taxes was tainted by political influence and that Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to protect Hunter Biden in the investigation.
The new testimony comes as House Republicans begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family, potentially undercutting one element of that effort.
At issue is an October 2022 meeting between prosecutors and case agents working on the Hunter Biden investigation. Shapley alleges that during that meeting, Weiss, the then-US attorney for Delaware, told participants that he was “not the deciding person” on whether Hunter Biden was charged, according to Shapley’s notes from the meeting. House Republicans have taken that to mean Weiss was not in charge of his own investigation, and was deferring to a higher authority.
In addition to Shapley and Weiss, there were five others in that meeting, three of whom have recently testified to the Republican-led congressional committees now spearheading the impeachment inquiry.
While the witnesses disputed Shapley’s key allegations from that meeting, they acknowledged Weiss was having trouble finding a venue to bring charges against the president’s son, as US attorneys from other states rejected partnering on the case. They also expressed frustration with the pace of the probe, which at that point had been ongoing for roughly four years.
In June, Weiss reached a plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges. But the deal fell apart amid scrutiny from a judge, and Weiss subsequently requested special counsel status. Last week, Hunter Biden was indicted on the gun charges.
