Garland Asked Point Blank About Number Three DOJ Official Leaving To Help Prosecute Trump In NYC

3 months ago

At today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) questioned Attorney General Merrick Garland about the legal troubles of former President Trump.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you. Mr. Attorney General, there's no blinking at the fact that for the first time

00:08 in American history, we do have a presidential administration that's working to put its opponent

00:13 in jail. I mean, that's a fact. And that, an opponent who's a former president of the United

00:18 States. Now, as I understand the facts, Jack Smith was the principal player in the IRS targeting of

00:24 the Tea Party. He was a well-established record of prosecutorial abuse. And yet you appointed him

00:31 to prosecute the former president of the United States, who happens to be running against your

00:36 boss. Now, this is entirely your work, including approving an unprecedented search of a former

00:42 president's home. And though you've just maintained that the local prosecutors are independent,

00:47 it's a fact that in the Manhattan case, the third ranking official in your department

00:54 left it to join the local prosecutor's office to spearhead the New York prosecution.

00:59 The Atlanta prosecutor strategized for hours with the White House counsel in advance of filing that

01:05 case. And you've just refused Mr. Gates request to reveal what communications your department

01:11 and its employees have had with those local offices. So what are we to make of all of this?

01:15 I have to disagree with the characterizations that you've made. We're happy to take into

01:22 account the requests if you make them to us. That's a normal process and we will respond to all

01:28 characterization. Do you question? Well, I disagree with your characterization that

01:35 this person was sent by my office. He was sent but it is rather odd that the third ranking

01:41 official in your office leaves it to go to a local prosecutor's office to prosecute this case.

01:50 Justice Department had nothing to do with that person going. He was the principal deputy to the

01:55 third ranking. Like Caesar's wife, it's important that your department be above reproach and clearly

02:02 it's not. Special counsel Herr concluded that although there was evidence President Biden

02:08 had willfully retained and disclosed classified materials when he was a private citizen, his words,

02:15 criminal charges were not warranted because among other things, President Biden is,

02:19 quote, sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. Do you agree with that decision?

02:25 I've said before and I'll say again, I'm not going to comment. I didn't comment on Mr. Durham's

02:31 special counsel report. I'm not going to comment on Mr. Herr's. Mr. Herr testified for five hours

02:37 before this committee. This is a Department of Justice matter. You're the attorney general and

02:41 there's no prosecution involved with this at this point. Of course it matters. Mr. Herr explained

02:46 the rationale for his decision in that case and he explained the differences between that case

02:53 and the case involving the former president. Well, I do want to thank you for your testimony

03:00 expressing concern for terrorist attacks. We've had five million illegal immigrants

03:05 deliberately released into our country with very limited vetting. And while the Border Patrol has

03:11 been overwhelmed, another 2 million known gotaways have entered as well. Now last year, your FBI

03:15 director told this committee that he believes this constitutes a massive security threat. Again,

03:21 his words. Do you agree with that assessment? I'm never going to be disagreeing with the FBI

03:27 director, but my recollection, he said that there is a national security threat of people

03:33 from known terrorist organizations crossing the border and the FBI will do everything it can to

03:40 follow those people if they manage to make it across the border and to ensure that the country

03:45 is protected. We could go into that in great detail, but my greatest fear is that we could

03:50 face a coordinated terrorist attack from elements among the millions who've entered this country

03:55 illegally over the last three years. Is this fear justified? I am worried about the possibility of

04:02 a terrorist attack in the country after October 7th. The threat level for us has gone up enormously

04:08 every morning. We worry about this question. We try to track anyone who might be trying to hurt

04:14 the country. Of course, this is a priority, a major priority for the Justice Department.

04:18 Because of this administration's policies, you now have millions and millions who've been allowed

04:24 into this country or who have evaded the Border Patrol while they've been overwhelmed admitting

04:29 these millions in. And I worry about the stages set for something very bad happening in the very

04:35 near future because of your administration's policies. It's reported the president intends

04:41 to use Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to turn back illegal entries

04:48 once they reach 2,500 a day. That's nearly a million a year. So that's not closing the barn

04:54 door. That's keeping it propped open indefinitely. But it is a lower number than your administration's

05:00 tolerated so far. Yet, for the last three years, three and a half years, the president's maintained

05:06 that he has no such authority. So what's changed other than we're five months before the election?

05:10 I'm going to have to refer you to the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for

05:15 border issues. I would say that the best way to protect the border was to pass the bipartisan

05:23 legislation that was proposed. You're responsible. Well, the bipartisan legislation would have

05:27 forbidden future presidents from using that very authority until illegal entries reach 4,000 a day.

05:35 Gentlemen, gentlemen's time has expired. They've called votes on the floor. I think we'll try.

Garland Asked Point Blank About Number Three DOJ Official Leaving To Help Prosecute Trump In NYC

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