Garland Says DOJ Not A ‘Political Weapon’ While Indicting Trump

Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed that the Department of Justice would not become a “political weapon” in a Thursday speech, failing to mention his department’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

In his remarks to the career staff at the department, Garland vowed to maintain the purportedly apolitical “norms” that he claims defines department activities, including the decision-making process for who to prosecute and when to bring charges.

“Our norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this Department from political interference in our criminal investigations. Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this Department to be used as a political weapon,” Garland said. “Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics.”

While attempting to drive the narrative that his department does not partake in political activities, and would never attempt to influence an election, Garland made no mention of the two federal cases the DOJ has brought against Trump.

The Trump campaign responded to Garland’s speech Thursday afternoon.

“Comrade Kamala Harris has weaponized the DOJ to target her political opponent, President Trump, in an unconstitutional and unprecedented Witch Hunt. The disgraceful conduct of Attorney General Merrick Garland has done tremendous damage to a once great institution,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a press release. “Using phony charges to interfere with the presidential election on behalf of the Democrat Party has to be stopped and those driving these Hoaxes have to be held accountable. Only President Trump can clean up the Harris-Biden disaster and Make America Great Again.”

Trump was indicted by the Biden DOJ twice last year. Led by Jack Smith, a special counsel who appears hellbent on prosecuting Trump before the election, federal efforts to go after Trump have included charges related to alleged mishandling of classified material and allegations about efforts to question the fairness of the 2020 election.

Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the charges in the classified documents case, ruling that Smith had been unconstitutionally appointed to pursue Trump. Smith has appealed the decision. Notably, the DOJ declined to charge President Joe Biden for mishandling classified documents, with Special Counsel Robert Hur characterizing Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the elections case that Trump had “absolute immunity” for “actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and “at least presumptive immunity” for all “official acts.”

After the Supreme Court’s decision, Smith updated the indictment and is expected to release new evidence previously not seen by the public, just before the election.

Smith’s activity appears to be in direct contravention of Garland’s speech, and the Principles of Federal Prosecution that he referenced on several occasions.

“’Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution … for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party,’” Garland stated. “There is not one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, or different rules depending on one’s race or ethnicity.”

However, Garland’s Justice Department has been caught up in multiple weaponization scandals, from going after concerned parents trying to protect their children from leftist ideology in the classroom, to threatening peaceful pro-life protesters. The DOJ also helped perpetuate the debunked Russia collusion hoax in 2016, and it is pushing a new version of it this election cycle.

Garland has been on defense lately, and his speech comes after writing a June op-ed in The Washington Post claiming that the Justice Department is not politicized.

Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.