Liberals might end up liking Merrick Garland’s Justice Department a lot after all

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In a filing on Tuesday, the Justice Department rejected a request by pro-Trump Republican Representative Mo Brooks to be protected from a lawsuit related to his inflammatory comments ahead of the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill. The decision, which justice officials said Garland was deeply involved in finalizing, follows a decision Monday to waive the executive privilege of former Trump justice officials and clear the way for them to testify about the events. which led to the insurgency.
Two memos released Wednesday showed a more muscular effort on civil rights law enforcement, an issue Garland said was a priority when he took office. The memos were a signal to states that the department was closely monitoring efforts to restrict access to voting and to use post-election “audits” to intimidate voters.

From civil rights enforcement to an antitrust lawsuit blocking one of Wall Street’s biggest mergers of 2020 to reversals of Trump-era immigration court guidelines, Garland appears to be rewriting the first narrative described by critics mainly from the political left.

His first few weeks in office were decidedly difficult with some of President Joe Biden’s supporters, who interpreted Garland’s reverence for the institution of the Department of Justice as a sign that Garland wants to brush aside the alleged abuses of the Trump era.

Two decisions early in his term set the tone for criticism: Garland continued the Department’s defense of the former Trump-era president in a lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, and the department sought to block the publication of an internal memo linked to the former prosecutor. General William Barr’s handling of Special Advocate Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia.

Opinion columns and cable news hosts argued that Biden may have erred in bringing in a judge after 24 years on the bench to serve as attorney general.

People close to Garland said the criticism was overblown and the attorney general tried to keep his promise to avoid the taint of politics in his decisions.

Amid criticism, Garland also announced lawsuits against Louisville for police practices following the murder of Breonna Taylor and against Georgia for voting law changes that followed Trump’s criticism of the election results. from 2020.

Even though the series of recent decisions are more likely to appeal to progressives, assistants say, that is not its purpose.

Justice Ministry Notifies States of Post-Election Audits and Election Law Changes

Instead, some justice officials say that even on rulings favorable to the old administration: “this is what restoring standards looks like.”

After decades on the bench, Garland’s instinct is to project a separate air of politics, which itself struggles in a hyper-partisan era in which everything from public health advice to national security , is seen through a political lens.

Deprived of a Supreme Court seat under President Barack Obama – many Republicans even refused to meet with him – Garland described his entry into the Justice Department after his attorney general’s confirmation in March as a “return to life. House “.

In his first public remarks after becoming attorney general, Garland spoke of his goal of trying to turn the page after four years in which the former president regularly publicly attacked the department and raised questions about fairness at work. of the department.

“The only way to be successful and maintain the confidence of the American people is to adhere to the standards that are now part of the DNA of every Justice Department employee,” Garland said.

Unlike Barr who compared career Department of Justice employees to Montessori preschoolers last year, Garland went out of his way to praise the work of career officials. Some critics have seen this instinct in some of his earlier decisions on the Carroll trial and refusing to release internal documents on the Mueller investigation.
But Garland has also shown a willingness to mingle with some career officials. In recent months, one of those behind-the-scenes struggles has focused on the department’s national security division, where career lawyers have vehemently opposed Garland’s decision to broadly ban prosecutors from looking for the communication files of journalists in the context of investigations into leaks. The change came after the department revealed that as part of national security investigations aimed at uncovering sources for journalists’ reports on Russia, a major source of annoyance for the former president, prosecutors obtained communications from reporters at CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post. They also seized the files of two Democratic members of Congress who were prominent critics of Trump.

In an internal ceremony earlier this summer attended by Garland, a career national security lawyer joked that he expected the comments in the room to be disclosed to reporters, especially since “we can no longer search their files”, according to a person present. Garland didn’t smile as laughter filled the room.

CNN lawyer describes gag order and covert process where Justice Department requested journalist's email recordings

Garland told reporters he was motivated in part because he believed that targeting reporters in leak investigations impacted reporters’ ability to do the type of reporting to hold representatives to account. of government, an important part of American democracy.

Justice officials note that the ministry is still prosecuting government officials for illegal leaks. In recent days, attorneys for justice have pleaded for a heavy sentence against a former US Air Force intelligence analyst for leaking documents about the US drone program to a journalist.

Relatives of the attorney general describe a former judge learning a lot about his new role. He is known to ask a lot of questions while being briefed and wants to have time to read every memorandum presented to him. He was slow to make decisions – a sea change for career lawyers who were used to making Barr’s quick decisions.

Some officials complain that there is a bottleneck in the attorney general’s office, with important and politically sensitive decisions being delayed while waiting for the attorney general. Some also complain of an at times risk-hostile climate, with senior officials tuned in to “win” deals and trying to avoid close calls.

Advocates for the attorney general say he’s aware of the political fluctuations that come with the job.

“He will disappoint the progressives again,” said a justice official. “But people should know he’s serious about sticking to the law.”

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