WASHINGTON – Attorney General Merrick Garland mentioned in interview that aired Sunday that he would resign if asked by means of President Joe Biden to take action in opposition to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. But he does not assume he’s going to be put in that place.
“I am sure that that will not happen, but I would not do anything in that regard,” he mentioned in an interview on CBS “60 Minutes.” “And if necessary, I would resign. But there is no sense that anything like that will happen.”
The Justice Department is at the center of now not handiest indictments in opposition to Trump that come with an effort to overturn the 2020 election and wrongly keeping classified documents, but additionally instances in opposition to Biden’s son Hunter, the aftermath of the revolt on the U.S. Capitol and investigations into categorised paperwork discovered in the president’s house and place of business. Garland has appointed 3 separate particular counsels.
Garland has spoken handiest sparingly in regards to the instances and reiterated Sunday he would now not get into specifics, however dismissed claims by Trump and his supporters that the instances had been timed to destroy his possibilities to be president in 2024.
“Well, that’s absolutely not true. Justice Department prosecutors are nonpartisan. They don’t allow partisan considerations to play any role in their determinations,” Garland mentioned.
Garland mentioned the president hasn’t ever attempted to meddle in the investigations, and he brushed aside complaint from Republicans that he was once going simple on the president’s son, Hunter, who was once lately indicted on a gun fee after a plea deal in his tax case fell aside. Hunter Biden is due in a Delaware court this week.
“We shouldn’t have one rule for Republicans and any other rule for Democrats. We don’t have one rule for foes and any other for pals,” he said. ”We have only one rule; and that one rule is that we follow the facts and the law, and we reach the decisions required by the Constitution, and we protect civil liberties.”
Garland choked up when speaking about his issues over violence, specifically as judges and prosecutors assigned to the Trump instances were given loss of life threats.
“People can argue with each other as much as they want and as vociferously as they want. But the one thing they may not do is use violence and threats of violence to alter the outcome,” he mentioned. “American people must protect each other. They must ensure that they treat each other with civility and kindness, listen to opposing views, argue as vociferously as they want, but refrain from violence and threats of violence. That’s the only way this democracy will survive.”