On day one, Garland vows to restore the independence of the Department of Justice



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Mr. Garland most recently served as the Federal Appeals Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. He submitted a resignation letter to the court on Wednesday, pending his swearing-in as attorney general.

But he is best known for Republicans’ refusal to consider his 2016 appointment to the Supreme Court, a political power game that ultimately allowed Mr. Trump to take the seat.

Mr. Garland is also a long-time Justice Department veteran, having worked as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office in Washington during the George HW Bush administration and as a departmental official during the Clinton administration.

During this time, Mr. Garland led the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people and then the worst terrorist attack on American soil. Mr Garland vowed during his confirmation hearing, weeks after the riot on Capitol Hill by a pro-Trump mob, to use the full force of the department to fight domestic extremism.

Mr. Garland spent most of Thursday in private briefings with senior department officials, including Christopher A. Wray, the director of the FBI; John P. Carlin, the Acting Deputy Attorney General; John C. Demers, head of the national security division; and Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor overseeing the department’s extensive investigation into the Jan.6 assault on Capitol Hill.

During an afternoon visit to the US attorney’s office in Washington, Mr. Garland thanked several officials in person for their work on the investigation, including Channing D. Phillips, the acting US attorney; his deputy, Ken Kohl; and prosecutors leading the effort, including JP Cooney, Michelle Zamarin, Gregg Maisel and John Crabb.

In a virtual meeting with all office workers, Garland praised their efforts to mitigate the threat in the weeks following the Capitol attack and reiterated the importance of the investigation, according to a participant.

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