President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday introduced Federal Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland and other leading prosecutors as key members of his upcoming Justice Department.
Garland, who was appointed by Biden as his Attorney General, would lead a team of legal experts with deep experience in and around the Justice Department and significant experience in civil rights law.
But in the wake of the pro-Trump riot on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Biden began his speech Thursday by reiterating who his nominees will be serving.
“We must restore the DOJ’s honor, integrity and independence from this nation so badly damaged,” said Biden.
“I want to be clear to those running this department you will serve: you will not work for me. You are not the president’s attorney or the vice president. Your loyalty is not mine,” he added. “It’s up to the law, the constitution, the people of this nation.”
Many of Biden’s nominees echoed that sentiment, calling for a return to an independent, apolitical Justice Department.
Garland, whose previous nomination to the US Supreme Court by President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans, spoke immediately after the president-elect.
“ The essence of the rule of law is that similar cases are treated equally: that there is not one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends, another for enemies, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless. , ” he said.
“These principles – ensuring the rule of law and delivering on the promise of equal justice under the law – are the great principles upon which the Department of Justice was founded and must always stand,” added Garland.
Federal Judge Merrick Garland makes comments after being nominated by President-elect Joe Biden as U.S. Attorney General at The Queen Theater on January 7, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Biden’s nomination of Garland, a political centrist, likely reflects the president-elect’s focus on isolating President Donald Trump’s department of bias, who often pressured his attorney general to investigate personal grievances, including false allegations of widespread electoral fraud.
The president’s allegations, although without evidence, would have helped spark violent riots and siege on Capitol Hill the day before.
Biden’s calls for independent and tireless prosecution can be quickly put to the test during a criminal tax investigation into the president-elect’s son, Hunter Biden.
The younger Biden announced last month that his taxes are under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware, a unit of the DOJ.
While both father and son have said they are confident Hunter did nothing wrong, ethics officials will likely scrutinize the probe for its duration and scope.
Lisa Monaco, Biden’s choice for deputy attorney general and former Obama counter-terrorism adviser, said restoring the department’s unfettered pursuit of justice is critical after the past four years.
“The soul of the Justice Department lives in the integrity of its professional professionals, in the independence of its investigations and prosecutions, and in the principles it sets forth in upholding America’s ideal of justice,” she said.
“What I think is most critical in the coming days is not a challenge at all, but an opportunity,” added Monaco. “For this team, and for the career professionals who make up the Department of Justice, to reaffirm its standards and traditions. To do justice without fear or favor.”
Biden hired Vanita Gupta, a career lawyer on civil rights and justice alum, as associate attorney general. A child of Indian immigrants, Gupta told a story from her childhood when she first realized that American justice is more likely to abandon people and communities of color.
She recalled how she and her family were forced to leave a McDonald’s at the age of four after a group of skinheads began calling them racist insults and throwing food at her mother and grandmother.
Vanita Gupta, US President Joe Biden’s candidate to become associate attorney general, speaks as Biden announces his nominees for the Justice Department at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Jan. 7, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
“There are many agencies in the federal government, but really only one has the name of a value. From that name, that value of justice, we know that the department has a unique burden,” she said.
“At best, it is the keeper of a sacred promise. It is the promise of equal justice for all,” added Gupta. “But when we are abandoned, we lower our democracy and sow the divisions we have come to know all too well.”
Kristen Clarke, the nominee to head the DOJ’s civil rights division, rounded out the speeches. In a former role as a career attorney at the Department of Justice, Clarke handled cases of police misconduct, hate crime and human trafficking.
Clarke said the nation is at a “crossroads” and, if confirmed, would try to “shut the door” on discrimination by enforcing civil rights laws.
“The department, and especially the civil rights department, has always held a special place in my heart. The clear call for equal justice under the law is what unites us as a nation,” she said.