Merrick Garland was chosen by President Biden last year to head the Justice Department. He was a cautious appeals court judge who was regarded as a political moderate who could forge consensus.
After the turbulent Donald Trump presidency, Garland, a former federal prosecutor, would work to restore confidence in the vast and strong law enforcement organization, according to his backers.
Even as he took on some of the nation’s most divisive political issues, he would strive to persuade the public and politicians that he was an apolitical attorney general.
But Merrick Garland found herself right in the heart of a major political uproar after the FBI’s highly unusual, court-approved search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club on Monday.
Democrats who had hoped that the Justice Department would seriously look into Trump’s alleged mishandling of presidential materials applauded the search, but conservatives who saw it as an abuse of authority denounced it.
On Capitol Hill, Republican supporters condemned Garland and vowed to reverse the situation and look into the Justice Department. The attorney general ought to step down or be impeached, according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
Garland has repeatedly declined to speak on that investigation or any other one that is ongoing, regardless of whether it involves the previous president. He has frequently promised to follow the evidence wherever it points and to punish lawbreakers accountable, whoever they may be.
He sidesteps reporters’ inevitable questions about Trump at news conferences. At a news conference last week on accusations made against police officers in connection with the homicide of Breonna Taylor, two of the four reporters allowed to ask questions opted to inquire about investigations into Trump.
Garland declined to respond both times.