Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed Friday that criticizing the Justice Department (DOJ) for bias was an “attack” on an “essential institution” of democracy.
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that Biden would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges, while a felony charge of lying on the form filled out when purchasing a firearm would be addressed via a pre-trial diversion program. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee released transcripts of depositions from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who said Garland and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel lied to Congress about the Hunter Biden probe Thursday when they denied the investigation was interfered with.
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“I certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department, its components and its employees by claiming that we do not treat, like cases alike,” Garland said during a Friday press briefing after being asked about the whistleblower allegations. “This constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to American democracy and essential to the safety of the American people. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley said in a May 26 interview with congressional investigators that a DOJ prosecutor refused to allow a search warrant for then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s home as part of the probe into Hunter Biden, citing “optics.” Shapley also said that the FBI gave Biden’s attorneys a heads-up about planned enforcement activities.
Congressional Republicans, candidates for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and legal experts all criticized the plea agreement, with some calling it a “sweetheart deal.”
“I’m ready for Merrick Garland to go,” Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky told Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday evening. “That will be Speaker McCarthy and Jim Jordan’s call on whether or not he gets impeached, but I’m fed up with him.”
“You’ve all heard me say many times that we make our cases based on the facts and the law,” Garland told reporters. “These are not just words.”
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