View Comments
Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday issued a long-anticipated directive restricting Justice Department contact with the White House as a firewall against potential political interference.
The order, which reaffirmed some policies of previous administrations, marks a sharp pivot from the Trump era when the former president casually broke with institutional norms, repeatedly calling on the department to launch investigations of his political rivals, including President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey.
"The success of the Department of Justice depends upon the trust of the American people," Garland wrote in the five-page department-wide memorandum obtained by USA TODAY. "That trust must be earned every day, and we can do so only through our adherence to the long-standing departmental norms of independence from inappropriate influences, the principled exercise of discretion and the treatment of like cases alike."