Attorney General Merrick Garland’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee got off to a roaring start with a contentious back-and-forth with Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).
In his opening remarks, Garland pushed back against claims that the Justice Department has been politicized against conservatives, and that the investigations into President Joe Biden and his family were mishandled. When the hearing moved on to questions, Johnson went up to bat first, and asked Garland if anyone from the White House ever gave him or DOJ officials any kind of direction on how to carry out the Hunter Biden probe.
Garland denied receiving any such instructions, and when if he ever had personal contact with anyone at FBI headquarters about the Hunter Biden investigation, he answered “I don’t recollect the answer to that question, but the FBI works for the Justice Department.”
“You don’t recollect whether you’ve talked to anybody at FBI headquarters about an investigation about the president’s son?” Johnson asked.
“I don’t believe that I did,” Garland answered. “I promised the Senate when I came before it for confirmation that I would leave [Special Counsel David] Weiss in place and that I would not interfere with his investigation.”
The questioning heated up again as Johnson demanded Garland answer his questions about the DOJ’s internal deliberations.
Johnson: Can you tell us about any briefings or discussions that
you personally have had with Mr. Weiss regarding any and all federal investigations of Hunter Biden?Garland: I’m gonna say again, I promised the Senate that I would not interfere with Mr. Weiss –Johnson: Under oath today, your testimony is you have not had any discussions with Mr. Weiss about this matter?Garland: Under oath, my testimony today is that I promised the Senate I would not intrude in his investigation. I do not intend to discuss internal Justice Department deliberations, whether or not I had them.Johnson: Oh, okay. So your testimony is you’re not going to tell us whether you’ve had discussions with Mr. Weiss.Garland: My testimony today is that I told the committee that I would not interfere. I made clear that Mr. Weiss would have the authority to bring cases that he thought were appropriate.Johnson: For a second time, sir. Are you aware that FBI officials have come before this committee and they have stated that there was a cumbersome, bureaucratic process that Mr. Weiss had to go through to bring charges in another district? You know that?Garland: I’m not aware, but that’s not true. There’s nothing cumbersome about the process.Johnson: So those whistleblowers are lying to us under oath?Garland: I did not say that. Their description of the process as cumbersome is an opinion. It’s not a fact-question.
From there, Johnson interrogated Garland on
“Mr. Weiss was a longtime career prosecutor. President Trump appointed him,” Garland began. Johnson cut him off to point out “You’re not answering the question! Is that standard procedure? Should it take that long to make such a simple determination?”
Watch above via CNN.