The US attorney general denies that there is politicization of the justice system against Trump

The attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garland, on Tuesday rejected the accusations from House Republicans that the criminal justice system had been politicized in an attempt to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

Garland told lawmakers during his testimony that he will not let politics interfere with the Justice Department’s independent criminal investigations, and accused them of peddling conspiracy theories that could endanger federal law enforcement officers.

“I will not be intimidated,” Garland told lawmakers before the House Judiciary Committee. “And the Department of Justice will not be intimidated. We will continue to do our work free of political influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”

Tuesday was the first time Garland appeared before Congress since a Manhattan jury found Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying documents to cover up a payment that silenced a porn star before the 2016 elections.

Trump still faces three other state and federal criminal cases — two brought by special counsel Jack Smith over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents — and a state case in Georgia also linked to his actions in the 2020 White House race.

Also read: The charges against Donald Trump, in detail

Republicans say all four cases are politically motivated and represent an effort by Trump’s rival, President Joe Biden, to interfere in the Nov. 5, 2024 election. They also threaten to defund Smith’s two investigations into Trump.

“Many Americans believe there is now a double standard in our judicial system,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio. “They believe it because there is one.”

Garland accused Republicans of making “false claims that the verdict of a jury in a state trial, handled by a local district attorney, was somehow controlled by the Department of Justice. That conspiracy theory is an attack on the own judicial process”.

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