Transcripts For CSPAN3 Attorney 20240703

The turner recognizes s the gentleman from georgia. Five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Attorney general garland, great to see you. Thank you for your service to the nation. And the nation watches as republicans have no answer for why they want to focus and obsess on hunter biden receiving 2 million from burisma after serving on the board he said he was not qualified to serve on. But yet, the saudi arabians gave 1 billion to Jared Kushner who conducted middle east strategy for his dear old dad, donald trump. He got 2 billion for something that he is not equipped to do, which is investment banking. And so republicans looking at hunter biden instead of Jared Kushner, americans dont understand how that could be. They also are increasingly alarmed about the fact that republicans in control of the house only seem to have three objectives, one is to impeach joe biden. Number two, is to shut down is to impeach or get rid of kevin mccarthy. And the third is to shut down government. And a subset of that is to defund the doj and the fbi. For trying to hold donald trump accountable. So the American People are watching that and they also appreciate the fact that you have had a distinguished career as a prosecutor and a doj official, as well as 24 years on the bench. You served on the Second Highest Court of the land as a judge for 24 years, the d. C. Circuit court of appeals. We appreciate your service, you were for seven years the lead you managed the entire office. Thank you for that. You also served on the Judicial Council for number of years. And so you are steeped in the rule of law. You are a judge extraordinaire. And, as a judge, you never had the occasion to receive a private jet travel to exotic location by a corporate billionaire, did you . No. He never received an offer to get a ride on a private jet . No. Did you take any vacations at exclusive resorts paid for by a billionaire . I know these are not hypothetical questions, its really not within my realm. You are a judge extraordinaire and you know the rules of ethics for judges because your bench was covered by a code of conduct. Is that not correct . All of the judges, federal, appellate district judges are covered by the code of conduct. You would never have had someone to pay for your godsons tuition to private school i want to answer these kind of hypothetical questions. To me there hypothetical questions. What i would say is always as a judge, and ive said this before quite publicly and long ago, i always tell myself to the highest standards of ethical responsibility imposed by the code and that is really all i can answer. Is required the judges and justices avoid even appearances of impropriety. Isnt that correct . Again, i know youre asking this both hypothetically and not hypothetically, all i can say is i follow the code of traditional conduct and includes avoiding appearances. Let me ask you this question. Senator whitehouse and i sent a letter to you alerting you to the fact that we were asking the Judicial Council to refer the matter of Terrence Thomas being in violation of the ethics in Government Act to the Justice Department. Does that, along with myself and others requested that you take that matter up. Directly. Have you responded to either one of those letters, and if not, why not . And what action have you taken pursuant to those letters . But the gentleman a respond. May respond. I assume if you have a letter i will respond. The time of the judgment has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california. Thank you. This may be the reason expecting to leave the chief justice in that group before we speak because you wouldve hurtled up. I want to thank you personally for your office and engagement on camp lejeune and obviously of that amount of litigation. That is one of the many jobs that falls at your feet. One of the jobs that falls at our feet here is that we are watchdogs of the executive branch. You have previously said you are not congresses attorney. And you have said you are not the president s attorney. And i am assuming you are neither executed or defense attorney and you are neither the president s prosecutor or defense attorney. That is why todays investigation really does deal with the fact that if you are not, by definition, the president s prosecutor, but we have an obligation to see whether or not the president or member of his family or in concert with the president s activities in fact needs to be overseen, admonished or even prosecuted. I have a couple of questions for you. One of them is that you have not said this very much today, but you often say, i cannot comment on that because its an Ongoing Investigation. When we ask for information you very commonly say it is the policy, not the law, but the policy of the department of justice, not to provide information needed to an Ongoing Investigation. So far i am on track, is that correct . I think ive said more than its just policy. I think the letters we have sent trace it to the constitutional separation of rule 60. Et cetera. But in general im in accordance with what youre saying. One of the challenges we face is that just a matter of weeks ago a federal judge found the actions of now special prosecutor to be so outside of what he couldve agreed to that he pushed back on a plea settlement and nullified it and said the was attorney going back. In light of that, dont you think it is appropriate for that portion to be considered a preOngoing Investigation and for congress to legitimately look at the activity leading up to that failed plea bargain rather than wait until weeks, months or years from now the cases fully settled . Give me a chance, first, i dont agree with the characterization of what happened in the plea. The district judge performed or obligations under rule 11 to determine whether the parties were in agreement, which each had agreed to and determined they were not. It fell apart as you know. There been another prosecution, the leads to the second thing. Mr. Weiss is in the midst of an ongoing prosecution on the very matter youre talking about. Okay, but mr. Attorney general, if we believe, and we do, at least on the side of the days, that a pattern of behavior is occurring relative to the investigation of hunter biden, particularly and including while he lived in the Vice President s home, while he operated, comingled with the Vice President , and even today as he travels with the president , so in light of that, can you agree that in fact it should be reasonable for us to look at a number of items including, and when i want your answer on i know we have limited time, mr. Weiss supposedly had this ability to bring a prosecution anywhere. He now explicitly has that ability. However, are you concerned and should we have the right to look into the fact that political appointees in california and in the district of columbia refused to in fact cooperate with him in those investigations, in investigation he was charged with doing in delaware but which flowed over into their jurisdiction . Isnt that in fact an in investigation that he was charged with doing in delaware but which flowed over into their jurisdictions . Is that in fact an example where those political import the appointees of the now and president that their decision not to cooperate create in at least an appearance of political interference with the investigation of the president , son and possibly activities related to the president . Im happy to answer this hypothetical. In the hypothetical it is the normal process of the department that and if attorney wants to bring they go to the other district and consult. They do that in order to determine what the policies are in the district and what the practices have been in the district. What the judges are like in that district. Our u. S. Attorney in another district does not have the authority to deny another u. S. Attorney ability to go forward and i have assured mr. Weiss that he will have the authority one way or another and i think mr. Weisss letters completely reflect that. Thank you, to be continued. Welcome mr. Attorney general and thank you for leading the department with such integrity. We meet today at a momentous time in our history. The country is about to go through a great trial. By this i do not mean any of the several trials of the former president but rather trial of the proposition that we are a nation of laws committed to the rule of law and that no one is above the law. It is a proposition well known around the world because it is the one essential to ingredient. We have expressed our belief but it has never been tested like it is today. In this committee we are engaged in a portion of that trial. The chairman would abuse the power of this committee by trying to interfere in the prosecutions of donald trump, by trying to use the committees power of subpoena to compel criminal discovery and make the committee a kind of criminal defense form for the former president. In doing so the chairman of this committee would establish a very different proposition. He would establish the principle that the rule of law should apply to almost everybody, just not the leader of his party. According to this alternate proposition, if you are the president of the United States and you lose your reelection you can violate the law and constitution to try to stay in power and if you are successful while then maybe you get to be president for life and if you fail there is no repercussion. This proposition is also well known to the world and it is called a dictatorship. Esther jordan hopes to camouflage his assault on the rule of law by falsely claiming that donald trump is the victim of unequal justice and hunter biden his beneficiary. It is a claim that is transparently political as it is devoid of any factual basis. And it is cynical based on the belief that the American People cannot discern fact from fiction. But i am betting on america. History has shown that those who bet against her are rarely successful and more often they end up covered with shame. I believe in the rule of law and i think you mr. Attorney general for defending it. Me now turn to some of the false claims asserted the former president and some of this committee. On sunday, the former president appeared on a National News sunday program and was asked about four indictments in 91 counts facing him. His response was biden indictments, excuse me, but a lot of a biden political indictments. He said to the attorney general, indict him. Mr. Attorney general, i want to give you a chance to respond. Was the president telling the truth or lying when he said that President Biden told you to indict him . No one has told me to indict and in this case the decision to indict was made by the special counsel. So that statement the president made on sunday was false . I will say again that no one has told me who should be indicted and in any matter like this and that the decision about indictment was made by mr. Smith. Let me ask you this question about the prosecution of hunter biden. The prosecutor in that case, mr. Weiss, was appointed not by joe biden, and he was appointed in the first instance of donald trump, correct . And he was continued in that correct . Can you imagine the hue and cry you would hear from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle if you would have removed him from that position . Could you imagine the claims that you removed a prosecutor who is diligently investigating hunter biden, could you imagine the outrage . I can say that during my confirmation hearing discussed with many senators on that side of the aisle, their desire and actual insistence that mr. Weiss be continued to have responsibility for that matter and i promise and i said at my confirmation hearing that he would be permitted to stay and that i would not interfere. Mr. Attorney general, that was the right decision. That was the right decision to give the American People the confidence that even a prosecutor chosen by the former president would continue in the investigation into the son of the current president. That was exactly the right decision. Exactly the right decision and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would have been screaming if it were otherwise. But their attack on you is completely devoid of facts, principal, but i appreciate you doing the right thing for the department of justice and more importantly the right thing for the American People. I yield back. The chair may now yield back. I recognized from kentucky. Elon musk but then he became a critic of the administration and exposed the censorship regime. Now per public reports the d. O. T. Has opened not one but two investigations of elon musk. Mark zuckerberg on the other hand spent 400 million in 2020 tilting the elections secretly for the democrats. No investigations whatsoever. To the American Public, these look like mafia tactics. You pay us money, we look the other way. You get in our way, we punish you. The American Public sees what these tactics are. I want to direct you to a video that we are going to play. Obviously thats a significant matter and it is an ongoing criminal investigation and so i will not comment on an ongoing terminal interest nation. Were those pipe bombs operable . Batf is the expert. I cannot comment. We know this is an active investigation. We can handle classified information and we find that your department so we need that. It is an issue of commenting on ongoing criminal investigations which we are restricted in doing and the last administration after strengthened those policies. Thats not our policy and we find you so lets move on. I will not violate the rule of law and comment on ongoing criminal investigations. Peter navarro was indicted for contempt of congress. Are you in fact in contempt of congress when you give us this answer . This is an answer thats appropriate at a press conference. Its not an answer when we are asking questions. We are a committee that is responsible for your creation, for your existence of your department. You cannot continue to give us these answers. Are you in fact in contempt of congress when you refuse to answer . I have the greatest respect for congress and constitution and laws of the United States. The protection of pending investigations and ongoing criminal investigations as i briefly discussed in another dialog a few moments ago goes back to the separation of powers which gives to the executive branch the Sole Authority to conduct prosecutions. It is a requirement of due process and respect for those who are under investigation and protection of their civil rights. With all due respect to that, irancontra was an Ongoing Investigation and that didnt stop congress from getting the answers and you are getting in the way of our cost to chanel duty. You are citing the constitution and i will fight it. It is our constitutional duty to do oversight. When i said how many agents are assets of the government were present on january 5th and january 6th and agitating into the crowd to go in to the capitol can you answer that . I dont know the answer to either of those questions. If there were any, i dont know. I think you may have just perjured yourself that you dont know that there were any . I have no personal knowledge of this matter. I think what i said last time you had two years and by the way that was in reference to ray apps and yesterday you indicted him. On a misdemeanor. You are putting people away for 20 years for filming. Some people werent there and the guy is saying to go into the capital capitol. You have got all the goods on him. 10 videos and it indictment for misdemeanor . The American Public is not buying it. May i answer the question . I will ask one now. Go ahead. In discovery in the cases were filed with respect to january 6th the just this department prosecutors provided whatever info they had about the question they are asking with request to mr. Apps the fbi has said he was not in employee or informant of the fbi. Mr. Apps has been charged and as a proceeding i believe going on today on that subject. The charge is a joke and i yield to gentleman from california. Mr. Attorney general, my colleague said you should be held in contempt of congress. And that is quite rich because the guy whos leading the hearing right now, mr. Jordan, is about 500 days into evading his subpoena. About 500 days, so if we talk about intent to congress, lets get real. Are you serious that jim jordan, a witness to one of the greatest crimes ever committed in america, a crime or more prosecutions have insured than any crime committed in america refuses to help this country and we will get lectured about subpoena compliance . Jim jordan wont even honor a lawful subpoena. Are you kidding me . Are you kidding me . There is no credibility on that side. Mr. Attorney general you are serious, they are not. You are decent, they are not. You are fair, they are not. So i welcome you to a law firm of insurrection llp where they work every single day on behalf of one client, donald trump and they do that at the expense of millions of americans who need the government to stay open who want their kids safe in their schools, thats the expense that this nonsense and this clown show except they have real responsibilities that affect real americans, its the difference between one side that believes in governing and one side that believes in ruling. You have tried to comply with this committee in fact last week one of your special agents came here for an interview, brought his lawyer and was told that he couldnt have his lawyer present. Mr. Jordan, who tells all of us he knows so much about the cost of tuition, wouldnt afford one of your employees one of the basic Constitutional Rights to have a lawyer pleasant present. Your office sent a letter saying that you were willing to comply and i would like to send that to the record. Who appointed mr. Weiss . Mr. Trump was the last person who appointed mr. Weiss to the u. S. Who initially appointed john durum . Mr. Durum was also in pointed my President Trump and mr. Barr appointed him as special counsel. Again, these guys are so upset that Donald Trumps appointed prosecutors are not doing enough of the corruption that donald trump wants them to do. Either they are following the law or they are not willing to go as far as they think donald trump deserves. Thats what they are asking to happen here. Also, doesnt it seem that they both ways when it comes to special counsel . A lot of questions suggested that the special counsel should be independent but when they did not like the direction you were asked why you did not interfere more or involve yourself more or investigate more. Do you get the sense that they are stuck here . When i make an appointment of someone to special counsel or prosecutor the appointment is without respect to what the outcomes of the case will be. Your office has made a number of reforms to 702 targeting foreign nationals, but those are forms that have not been put into law. 702 is a best weapon to go after fentanyl. Can you tell us if you would support those reforms so we dont have to Live Administration to administration to see if they will be followed . I would. Section 702 provides us with Justice Department every morning, the greatest amount of intelligence we receive about dangerous threats to the United States. From foreign nationals . From foreign nationals. I am sensitive to several Civil Liberties concerned in respect to the queries and for that reason i put into place and extend some of those that mr. Barr began at the end of his term and i put further ones in place which led to a dramatic reduction in the number of queries and eight dramatic reduction in the number of noncompliant queries. I believe those are appropriate reforms and i would be in favor of codifying them, yes. Thank you mr. Attorney general and thank you for doing something the chairman is unwilling to do, testifying to congress. Fitzgerald. Attorney general on august 11th, 2023 you appointed mr. David weiss u. S. Attorney for the district of delaware as special counsel to oversee the investigation of hunter biden. I dont the question has and asked yet, why did you choose to appoint them as special counsel . The explanation was given and it is that mr. Weissberg quested it we reached a stage of the investigation and under those extraordinary circumstances i would be served by making him special counsel. How did mr. Weisss name emerge . How was this brought or presented to you that this would be the best person to be the special counsel . Oh, i will not get into internal discussions. Mr. Weiss asked that he be appointed as special counsel and i granted that request and made him special counsel, but i will not get into internal deliberations of the just this department. You said earlier you had no discussions with the president in regards to that . Of course. Nothing came from the white house. So on august, 2023 and article claimed that mr. Weiss worked with hunter biden and Hunter Bidens late brother. Were you aware of a relationship with the biden family . I am not failure with this. They worked together on legal cases in prior years. You were unaware . I am unaware. There was a relationship between the president and mr. Weiss but you were unaware . I was unaware but attorneys who are in practice certainly get to know people and its very difficult for anywhere in the country for attorneys not to know other attorneys on the other side. You said that mr. Weiss had the ultimate authority over the investigation including prior to his appointment of special counsel and you stand by that statement . Im sorry . That the ultimate authority was still there with mr. Weiss to make determinations on that case . You mean still a special counsel . Yes. Yes. So the buck stops there and that has been determined. According to whistleblower testimony leslie wolf objected to search more warrants of President Bidens guesthouse to a storage unit that contain documents from the vacated office of law firm. Is leslie wolf still employed at the department of justice . I am not going to talk about any individuals in the Justice Department. As i have said singling out members of the Justice Department has led to threats to their safety. I will say the supervisor was mr. Weiss and he is responsible for all the decisions that were made excuse me many of the things that you are saying occurred during the Previous Administration. There was absolutely a discussion by leslie wolf that if they told investigators or got involved with dispatch there would ultimately be issues. You still believe that at this point the entire investigation has moved and there aint and the correct discretion mr. Weiss was a long standing career prosecutor. He was appointed by President Trump. He had enough standing reputation. He will submit a public report just like mr. Durham. He will be available for you to ask him questions about why he did various things that were done. On july 10th, 2023 mr. Weiss went to senator graham and said i have not requested special counsel designation and then you announced 31 days later that he was. What happened in that time . As i said publicly three days before my announcement mr. Weiss asked to become special counsel. He explained he would reach a stage of his investigation were he felt that was appropriate. What stage was that . Are we in the beginning stage, the middle stage, the endstage . This one i would go back to the video tape where i said i am not permitted to discuss ongoing criminal investigations. Isnt that convenient. Something changed from july 10th to august 11th. Whistleblowers came forward. The chair now recognize the gentleman from california. Thank you, mr. Chair. The House Judiciary Committee help with the rule of law but this committees chairman ignored a bipartisan congressional subpoena. The horrible president set by this chairman has damaged the credibility of all correctional committees and seeking information from witnesses and damaged the rule of law. Attorney general garland, thank you for your service and thank you for being here today. I would like to start with showing a video of january 6th and i would like to ask questions about that day. Hey brother, wear boots on the ground here, were moving on the capitol now. Multiple capitol injuries. Multiple capitol injuries. Take the building you, police 50 2j occ officer this is now effectively a riot. Attorney general garland there were 1100 defendants charged, correct . Yes. I will state two fax. The people who showed up were supporters a donald trump. They attacked the capital to stop congress from certifying the fact that donald trump lost the election. Those two facts were so horrible that some in the rightwing media and some members of congress could not handle that so they made up conspiracy theories. In fact, donald trump called january 6th a beautiful day. He said the people who showed up had love in their hearts. Some republicans have said there were no weapons used. Attorney general garland were the weapons used in the attack . Yes, in the video you saw some of the weapons and there were obviously many more. Another Conspiracy Theory is that somehow the fbi actually orchestrated this attack so i will go through some cases that have gone through completion and resulted in sentencing. Joe biggs was sentenced to 17 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other counts related to attack on our nations capitol. Have you seen any shred of evidence that joe biggs was in the i agent . No. In fact, joe biggs was a member of the proud voice. This is what assistant u. S. Attorney conor munro stated about joe biggs and the proud boys in court. He stated they saw themselves as Donald Trumps army. Fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law of the course had to say about it. And on september 4th, joe biggs stated that he is confident trump will pardon him. He said i know he will pardon us. We are his supporters and we went there like he asked. Now we would like to talk about the case of stella rose sentenced to 18 years in prison. Have you seen any shred of evidence that Stewart Rhodes was an fbi agent . No. They also asked you about have you seen any evidence that henrique was an fbi agent . He was not an fbi agent. In fact he was the leader of the proud boys. What happened is that donald Trump Supporters showed up because he told them to. They marched to the capitol because they told them to. That is the truth and that is how history will record it. Thank you for prosecuting those who attacked our nations capitol. The chair now wrecked sizes the gentleman from South Carolina. Thank you, i have a slide up here. In october or march of 22 in april of that same year you testified before the Senate Appropriations committee that mr. Weiss was free to run the investigation without interference from the doj. According to the irs whistleblower there was a meeting where mr. Weiss said that he was not the deciding official on whether charges were filed and we know that because we have handwritten notes from the irs whistleblowers that was confirmed in an email. It later in january mr. Weiss was denied the ability to bring charges again against harden hunter biden. You testified before the senate Judiciary Committee that he had full authority. Weiss confirmed and said he had been granted full authority then he backed up and said well, just kidding. My charging authority is geographically limited to my home district. Of course you will point him as special counsel so why the heck has his story changed so many times over the course of these investigations . Congressman, i have seen all three letters and read them quite carefully. They are all consistent with each other and i urge everyone watching this on television to look at those three letters. They are not in conflict with each other and theres no change in the story. You agree that he had ultimate authority . I explained that if he had to bring a case in another jurisdiction as a matter of mechanics it would require me to have a delegate it to sign in order that was very common. Mr. General, forgive me, when you say you have ultimate when he wrote a letter on your behalf in june, i have ultimate authority, this is prior to special counsel, ultimate means could he have filed charges in the district of South Carolina . He would not have that ability, correct . Thats not full authority. All he would have to do is ask me for 515 authority and i would sign it right away. He did not have ultimate authority . He had the authority because i promised it. But he did not have that authority. Heres where i am going. If he was denied the ability to bring charges in march of 22 and the district of columbia, if he was denied the ability to bring charges in january a 23 in the Central District of california thats not full authority. These u. S. Attorneys operate as gatekeepers so thats not full authority to do much of anything and whats remarkable to me is we sit here and we look at this and his story has changed so many times. You know who story hasnt changed . Mr. Ziglar, mr. Shapley. The emails that confirm i am not the deciding person on whether charges are filed and you know what the response was back from his colleague at work . Yes, you covered it all, gary. That is consistent. What mr. Weiss has done is a shell game and say he does or does not have authority and these gatekeepers in the u. S. Attorneys office, they would have the gatekeeping authority on whether charges are brought in their jurisdictions. Those words have no meaning, gatekeeper, et cetera, mr. Weiss said he was never denied authority. I am the one with the authority and i promised he would have it. I do not see any inconsistency here. I was not at the meeting that mr. Shapley was referring to. I know what i guaranteed and i know what mr. Weiss has had i guaranteed. Mr. Chairman i yield it is a simple question, if he already had it, why does he need it . You said he will continue to have the authority to bring charges where, when and whether he decides so how can he continue to have a power that you just gave him . I tried to answer that he had the authority. Did you tell him ahead of time that he could get 515 status anytime . I made absolutely clear. When . In the beginning in my statements to the senate that he would have authority to bring prosecutions he thought were appropriate. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Attorney general garland thank you for your Tremendous Service to this country. As someone who is trapped in the gallery on january 6th i have to admit it is still hard for me to look at that video and imagine that happen at our u. S. Capitol and im greatly appreciative that you have lead this nation. You have done so with full and complete attention to the facts with a team around you that focuses on thorough investigation and with a very Clear Mission that you have stated over and over and over again despite the asked and answered on the other side that the Justice Department works for the American People. This is a night and day transformation from a Justice Department that was constantly used by donald trump for his own political gain and it is my firm belief that we have to hold those accountable who tried to destroy our country including the former president or we risk losing our country altogether so i think you for your steadfast leadership. It is just sad that this committee has also been transformed into a soapbox for political conspiracy theorist instead of focusing on the really important issues that the American People care about and so thats what i will try to do. I will focus on the critical crisis of reproductive freedom and the effort to try to strip reproductive freedom from people across this country. As you know, a decadelong project of the extreme right wing materialized when five republican appointed justices overturned 50 years of precedent that established the constitutional right to abortion. As one of the one in 4 women of this country who has had an abortion and who felt compelled to share my story after decades because i saw the attacks on the right to abortions and what it would do particularly for poor women, or black and brown and Indigenous People across this country, i spoke out and shared that story. In the 22 states were republicans controlled the state legislature and governorship today all have moved to restrict reproductive rights. More than 25 million women of childbearing age now live in states where Abortion Access has been curtailed. In washington state, my home state, the Seattle Times reported increased numbers of patients not only from neighboring idaho which we knew we would see but also from other Southern States were these restrictions are enforced. Mr. Chairman i seek unanimous can vent to addled this add to the Seattle Times record, she traveled 2000 miles secretly for her washington abortion. My patients from the south are coming here. As our fundamental freedoms are threatened by extreme republicans in congress we trust that the doj will initiate investigations of fire loss to protect reproductive rights with respect to mifepristone what has the department done to protect access to this very safe abortion drug that women can take at home safely and to end a pregnancy . So the fda authorize the use of mifepristone as a safe and effect. It did it back in 2000. That has been challenged. First in the districts courts where we defended the fda in that matter. There was an appeal to the Circuit Court which narrowed the District Courts opinion in some ways, but allowed it to go forward in another. We have filed a petition that has been granted i think in the Supreme Court of the United States. Very important work, thank you. In the country with our states insurance Commissioner Office reporting that in 2021 there were several counties lacking even one secular hospital. This is an issue under the emergency medical treatment and labor act when patients in need of abortion care as a life saving treatment are denied services under the hospitals policies. What is the department doing to enforce this law mandating that every hospital that receives medicare funds provide necessary stabilizing treatment , to patients including abortion care . This is federal law that expressively preempts any existing state law and for that reason we filed a lawsuit in idaho and one in the District Court with respect to an idaho law that infringes on the rights granted under montavilla. We have filed a number of statements of interest in places and we continue to look at where it would be appropriate to intervene. Must remain free to seek that care and states where it is legal. I thank you for that. Can you briefly discuss the progress made by the task force in doj showing that pregnant people will maintain their zpc Justice Kavanaughs in his separate opinion. He said this is not a particularly difficult question. The right to travel is a constitutional right and it allows women in a state that bars abortion to travel and obtain an abortion in a state in which its permitted. Thank you, attorney general for your commitment to upholding the rule of law in our country. Appreciate your service. Three by the gentleman from oregon is recognized for five minutes. Thank you mr. Attorney general for being here. I would like to go back briefly to your remarks regarding before the senate when you are confirmed and your promise regarding mr. Weiss. When you were confirmed in youro promise regarding mr. Weiss. Can you explain to us in more detail who you promised you would keep him on this case . To whom was that promise made . Meetings with them asked me to make that promise. Think that was discussed in my interchange with senator from tennessee, i believe. Did that promise that you made lead you to believe that even if mr. Weiss displayed a level of incompetence that you would be precluded from asking him to step down or precluded from replacing him . Look, when someone asks me to make this appointment, they didnt ask me depending on what the outcome was. Mr. Weiss has made his appointment and decisions and mr. Weiss is an experienced federal prosecutor with extensive experience and with te sufficient credibility to be. Appointed by President Trump. I have no grounds for interfering here. You have not answered the question. The question was really what level of incompetence displayed by a prosecutor under your control would it take for you to make a change, but lets move on. The level of incompetence i am s referring to and i will just read this to you, this is the same mr. Weiss who headed an investigation that was trashed and whistleblowers who alleged w that his investigation has been fixed from the outside. Agents were allegedly prevented from asking about joe biden and obstructed in their efforts to pursue questions it was the u same mr. Weiss who reportedly allowed the statute of limitations to run out on hunters major taxi fences. It was the same mr. Weiss who did e not indict on major tax felonies and cut a plea deal and felony gun charge. He was the same weiss who brokered the widely panned sweetheart deal. There is a list of what i woulde suggest under many peoples definition would be incompetence. Are you saying thats inadequate for you to have in questioned what he was doing . All of these are allegations. I dont know what the facts of these are. I was not present at any of the meetings. Some of the meetings occurred s under the Previous Administration where mr. Weiss was assigned to the matter by the previous Justice Departmentm and i am not in a position to comment on them. That is too bad. There is a scope of investigation memo issued when we start these things out. Who issued that to mr. Weiss . Was it done when he was originally appointed to take onh the biden case . Is that when the memo telling him what to do was issued . With respect to special counsel on that has been th publicly transmitted to the chairman of the Judiciary Committees. E who wrote that . Who decided what should be within the scope of that investigation . Who wrote the memo . I decided what should be in the scope if you will compare ba that to the scope of many other special councils it basically is modeled on the format that ed we have used in the past not on only in this administration but in the previous one. In your remarks delivered on august 11th of this year concerning the appointment of david weiss as special counsel you say upon considering his request as well as the extraordinary circumstances related to ,this matter. Can you tell us what those we extraordinary circumstances were . I am sorry. These are your remarks on august 11th and it says on tuesday this week mr. Weiss advised me in his judgment in nt his investigation he has he reached a stage in which he to should continue his work as special counsel and he asked to be so appointed. I have concluded it is in the best Public Interest to a and t him special counsel. What were those extraordinary circumstances . All of the the reason he uses those phrases is because re that is in special counsel regulation. As i have said as much as i can say without respect to that. I cant discuss embers the gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Garland i want to welcome you today to this hearing. Re i want to turn our attention to something very interesting, the most important thing on main street today in my district is k drug addiction, narcotics m trafficking, fentanyl. I will quote you june 23rd of this year you said i the u. S. Government continues to do everything in our power to disrupt fentanyl trafficking and to prevent more of our communities from mcdevitt dated by the fentanyl epidemic. We are targeting every step of the movement, manufacturing of fentanyl from start to finish. Mr. Garland, i believe that the only thing that cartel leaders fear is the United States prison. I want to thank you for the job you extradited, ill chop those son, do you have plansh to to face u. S. Justice in a u. S. Prison sentence . I dont want to get into that discussion, diplomatic discussions over the matter but obviously we have indicted the other the nick name given too the sons of el chapo. How many are those . Four or five im not sure. They have all been publicly indicted and of course we will seek the extradition and the er apprehension of everyone we have indicted. The apprehension in the indictment of these individuals requires a cooperation from foreign countries, especially mexico since that is where a lot of these cartels are operating. Would you say right now mexico d is cooperating with us in termsc bring these cartel leaders to justice . They have obviously worked with us with respect to his apprehension by the mexicans led to the deaths of a significant number of mexican marines. People fighting back with 50 caliber machine guns and the marines having to use blackhawkl attack helicopters in order to arrest him. For these u. S. Marines or i am sorry. Mexican marines who played in Important Role in the apprehension of the cartel leaders. So mr. Garland, would you characterize cooperation right now with mexicans as being good or not good . I would say cooperation can always be better. We have an enormous problem with respect th to fentanyl coming from mexico. How can we as members of he Congress Help you make sure that other countries have stronger cooperating relationship with us . How can we make sure that they cooperate to their list ability . I appreciate your request and i will have to think about it more. Op i have personally traveled to mexico twice trying to get more operation with respect these matters. How important is 702 when it comes to fighting this . Its very important. Fentanylti poses a National Security problem. Can you work with us to ensure that we put guardrails Safety Measures on 702 to ensure that those investigativeu weapons are not turned against e u. S. Citizens . Absolutely. T 702 is a crucial, essential tool but like all tools it has to be properly controlled and we would be happy to work with congress to make sure civil rt liberties are protected. My last minute. I wanted to turn to the antitrust area, the European Union and the Digital Marketing act which this Digital Markets act is designed to protect consumers in europe, yet it looks like most of their focus is on american firms. No European Companies or other foreign operators in the European Union are being targeted that looks like it looks like the doj is working to support the efforts of the europeans and implementing a Digital Marketing act. I have 18 seconds. Su i will submit a written question to your office but my focus and interest is making , sure american jobs and american countries are successful and that they are not in any way hampered from working overseas. Following your confirmation y americans were promised they were getting a focus, fo nonpartisan to lead their federal Law Enforcement. I had my doubts back then. In the last two years have more than confirmed in my mind those fears. Never in my mind what i have thought that i would see such a politicized doj. Never in my life what i think i would see such a department of justice that didnt obey their own rules. Never in my life did i think i would see the egregious investigations conduct did under your watch with a blatant disregard of the First Amendment by fbi field offices under your watch. Never in my life did i think i would see our great doj turn into a politicized weapon to be wielded by investigation to attack political rivals. I still hold thousands of hard working staff with high regard but unfortunately there are some within the department in my mind who have betrayed their oafs and for that you must be held accountable. I hold unyou accountable for tht labeling of parents as domestic terrorist standing up for their proper education of their own children. I hold you accountable for the antiin catholic memo, imagine sending agents undercover into Roman Catholic churches because they were supposedly domestic terrorists quite the i. Hold yl accountable for you unleashing a special counsel with a history of botched investigations on our current president s political rival. The department under your leadership i am sorry to say and i am sorry to say has me become an enforcement arm of at the Democratic National committee. If there is a perceived threat to the Democratic Party the is Democratic Party this doj attacks every single time but when there are actionable threats against conservative this doj s stays put. Protesters outside the Supreme Court go unpunished. Attacks on prolife senators, unpunished. Two tiered system of justice is clear and its clear to the American Public and the buck stops with the man in charge and that man is you the actions of the doj is on you. The decline of Americans Trust n in our federal Law Enforcement is on you. The political weaponization of the doj is on you simple yes or no to the following. Just yes meor no. Do you agree that traditional catholics are a violent extremist, yes or no . Let me answer what you have said in that long list attorney general, i control the time. I didnt ask you those things i made a statement. Attorney general, through the chair i ask you do you agree that traditional catholics are l violent extremists . I have no idea what traditional means here. Catholics that go to church. E yes or no . The idea that someone with my family background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous and absurd. It was your fbi that did this and that was sending and we have the memos, we have the s emails sending undercover agents into catholic churches. Have said that we were. Appalled by that memo. No so you agree that they are not extremists . Are they extremists or not . Are they extremists or not . Say no if you think its wrong. E no. Was anyone drafted first circulating the anti memo . I dont know the answer to that. Should parents that go to School Board Meetings and are vocal about their kids education, should they be classified as domestic terrorists . Of course not and my memo made clear that vigorous objections are protect it under the First Amendment. The president accused you, his staff, accused you of mismanaging the hunter biden probe, do you agree . Yes or no . Do i agree with the wall rn street journal . Wi yes. I think i dealt with the hunter biden investigation. Mr. Chairman i yield my remaining time to you. Thank you, mr. Chairman and think you attorney general garland for your decades of service to the department of justice, to our country and to archon tuition. It has been truly Honorable Service and i think the American Public as a whole recognizes that. This is a Welcome Change from the rhetoric and actions of some of your predecessors in the last administration. The Justice Department works for the American People to prosecute crimes and keep our country safe. Congress of course has a legitimate duty of oversight, but the blatantly political and misleading rhetoric which we have been subject to two today undermines the seriousness of this committees work and ultimately the legitimacy and core values of our american contusions. T its obvious that our colleagues have called this nd hearing not to conduct ce legitimate oversight but to e once again defend the indefensible options dachshund former president. And to distract from their inability to perform the most space function of congress, to fund the federal government. They are baselessly accusing the u. S. Department of just this of bias against the former president but its important to note that those who are noisily and shamus trying to differ are just assist them are the same ones who have the most to fear from the Ongoing Investigationsi and the most to gain from impeding them. Defund the office of special counsel jack smiths office altogether. I, like so Many Americans find n this behavior contemptible. Mr. Attorney general, why is it so important for both upholding the rule of law and maintaining public trust that our Justice System be able to conduct investigations into wrongdoing free from political interference . The criminal law can in prose incredible sanctions on people. It can take away their liberty. That means due process has to at be followed during partisan consideration does noti play a role. Civil liberties are protect did and the only way that can happen is if prosecutors are able to do their work without considerations. Thank you. Id did want to take the opportunity to conduct some actual oversight and there was an important topic in your testimony safeguarding the right to vote. During the fi Previous Administration i asked officials what actions were taking on this critical issue and they couldnt answer mes could you please describe the efforts to your department of ur justice this is taking to t protect the right to vote . Yes, congress in the form of the Voting Rights act and the rights act authorized the department to bring cases and two in horse the constitution of the United States respect to the right to vote. As i am sure you know, the Supreme Court eliminated section five of the Voting Rights act. We retained section 2 which the Supreme Court had endorsed during its last term. We have brought cases in a number of jurisdictions where we felt thats loss we constitutionally on the right to vote. Ey we have come to similarly supported private parties when they have brought those cases. Threatening election workers and stopping them from doing their work is a significant way in which the right to vote can be enhanced impinged. We certainly saw that last president ial election, so we appreciate all these efforts. A elected officials misleading the public, attacking the foundations of our democracy and trying to so distrust on one the most critical rollers of that democracy, the u. S. Department of justice its unac it is unacceptable and un american. Seek unanimous consent to enter to the record a fact sheet on the department of justices work under attorney general garland leadership to safeguard americans to vote and protect our Election Officials and workers. Objection. Thank you. I yelled back. Committee will be in order. Committee will be in order. Recognized for five minutes. On august 11 2023, you appointed special counsel and you cited extraordinary circumstances requiring the appointment. You avoided answering the question when he asked, i will give you another chance to answer it. What were the extraordinary circumstances . Im afraid i will give the same answer i did before. I gave as much as i could give, which would be that he had reached a stage where it would be appropriate and i promised him i would give him any resource he needed and he asked for it. Further, pending investigation. Lets talk about that authority. On march 1, you told the senate Judiciary Committee that mr. Weiss had the full authority to bring cases and other jurisdictions felt necessary. On june 7, mr. Weiss wrote to the committee stating, he had been granted ultimate authority over the matter, including responsibly for deciding where, whether and when to file charges. He changed his tune and said that his charging authority was geographically limited and he it would be up to the u. S. Attorneys office, then to determine whether he can partner on the case. If not, he can request special attorney status pursuant to 28 usd 515 and he had been assured that if necessary, he would be granted 515 authority in d. C. Central district of california or any charges can be brought. Is there a distinct Legal Authority known as special status . Im sorry . Distinct Legal Authority known as special attorney status . Section 515 permits the attorney general to sign an order to authorize a prosecutor to work in another district. If you already decided that he had full authority, why did you feel necessary to send the document . Why did you why did mr. Weiss feel that he would need that extra authority if you had conveyed to him that he would have all of the authority. You would have to speak with mr. Weiss about that but his letters are quite clear that he understood. We asked you earlier about his request for the authority and we need to know who he spoke to about the authority and when. Before we asked you in august, discussions about this with others at the department. Who did he discuss special Counsel Authority and when did he do that. I guarantee. Mr. Weiss would have the authority that he needed and the moment i asked what authority he give it to them. Im not going to get into discussions of the deliberation predicament that is not a valid constitutional objection. That is a constitutional objective in that has to do with the ability of the Justice Department to do its Communications Just as your deliberations with your staff and other members are protected by the constitution. It does not implicate the internal deliberations at the department. Detailing who and when does not implicate those. Not going to get into the internal discussions of the department or talk to about what. And he well understood his ability to bring the case wherever he wanted and i said that he had that ability. Do you think the extraordinary circumstances had anything to do with the june 22 and july 19 testimony of whistleblowers special agent . I dont think it has to do anything with mr. Shapely, no. I will yield. Appreciate that. Have you are are you investigating who leaked the information that appeared to the Washington Post on october 6, 2022 about the hunter biden investigation . There was in october 2022. October 6, 2022 about the hunter biden investigation. You investigated who leaked that information. I dont know the answer. Inspector general . Do know that . I dont want my answer to suggest that there is or isnt such an investigation. I know that the Inspector General sent a letter to congress explaining that he had an ongoing assessment with respect to the whistleblowers charges. I dont know if that is what you are referring to. The time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman. I think the chairman and ranking number for pulling this hearing. Thank you, attorney general, for your testimony and appearing to us. I have Great Respect for my colleague from virginia on the other side of the aisle. I am a bit confused as to why they have focused in on this particular letter in a myopic way, but your testimony broke downwards words that the morning trump appointed asked for the authority, i gave it to him. It seems pretty straightforward. As you said, the letters that he has written to this committee are publicly available and encourage anybody watching these hearings to certainly review those. As you said, they are clearly consistent with each other in terms of reading the letters collectively. It is important, mr. Attorney general, to perhaps talk a bit about your record and background in light of the various attacks unfortunately by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. My understanding is that you served as a special assistant to the attorney general of the u. S. Early on in your career. Is that right . My first job out of being a law clerk. After law clerk. Of course but you were in private practice and you left private practice to become a Attorney Department of justice. Thats right. Federal prosecutor taking on organized crime cases, Drug Trafficking cases and Violent Crimes . I dont know about organized crime, but Drug Trafficking, yes. Following that service can be served in the department of justice as the principal associate. Deputy attorney general. This is the mid90s. Thats why. You supervised a range of highprofile cases. Is that right . Yes, they were highprofile. The unabomber case . Yes. Olympic bombing . Olympic bombing, yes. Oklahoma city bombing case . Yes. The latter investigation from then republican governor at the state of oklahoma, right . A very good partner in the investigation with respect to oklahoma. You were nominated and appointed to the federal bench u. S. District court of appeals here at washington, d. C. , correct . Yes. You were confirmed by a part partisan majority over 20 republican senators voted for your confirmation . I will take your word for it. I think thats correct. You served on the bench for a significant period of time and ultimately becoming the chief judge . Thats right. You left the position to return to the department of justice where you have started your career. Yes. You were confirmed in this position which you hold on a bipartisan basis . Yes. Its unfortunate, mr. Attorney general, that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have conflated questions about various cases that the department has brought with your integrity. I can assure you that the vast majority of American People dont share their opinion. My constituents and folks in colorado are grateful for your lifetime of service that you have given to the country and i recognize that i suspect a frustrating exercise in terms of this hearing, because i suspect that you would like to be talking about the prevalence of fentanyl in our communities and the work that the department of justice is doing. The gun violence epidemic in our country and the work that the fbi and other Law Enforcement agencies are doing to stop it. My hope is that the next overnight hearing, they can be the focus spoke of the hearing. I would be remiss if i didnt say one note about a role that the department of justice recently promulgated. As you may recall in 2021, i sent a letter to the department of justice requesting that the department of justice issue a role stabilizing braces. One was used, as you might recall, in mass shooting in my community in boulder, colorado where 10 tragically lost their lives, including a police officer. Issued a final rule over this year on this precise topics. On the other side of the aisle and overturn this role. I wonder if you might elaborate a bit on how the rule is drafted and deliberated within the department. That horrific event in boulder is one of several examples and the use of attachment of a semi automatic pistol to a stabilizing brace intended to permit firing from the shoulder. That violates a rule and congressional statute. Being possessed without registration. Anything under 16 inches. The reason for congress is statute which probably goes back to the capone area was the power of such a weapon and the ability to aim such a weapon. All that is done in this was to make clear that if you convert a pistol into a rifle and designed to be fired from the shoulder, you are subject to the registration requirement. I yelled back. Requested a short break, recess for a few minutes and we will be back for the remainder of the questions