Attorney General Merrick Garland became visibly angry Wednesday, lashing out at House Republicans who questioned a January FBI memo that suggested traditionalist Catholic groups could be infiltrated by domestic extremists who oppose abortion or other liberal policies.
“Do you agree that traditional Catholics are violent extremists?” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) asked during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“I don’t know what ‘traditional’ means here,” Garland replied.
“Church-going Catholics,” replied Van Drew, a former Democrat who switched to the GOP in 2020 before repeating his question: “Yes or no?”
At that point, Garland became more visibly emotional and passionate than she had been at any time in the hearing.
“The idea that someone with my family background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous, so ridiculous,” he said.
Attorney General Garland answered questions from Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) on the DOJ and FBI persecuting traditional Catholics: “The idea that someone with my family’s background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous! So ridiculous!” pic.twitter.com/RKoTcXIL0o
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Merrick Garland was in the hot seat during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.REUTERS
The attorney general once ran for a position in the Supreme Court.AP
“Mr. Attorney General,” replied Van Drew. “Your FBI did this. It’s your FBI and we have memos and emails [discussing] sending undercover agents into Catholic churches.”
“The FBI director and I have said that we are appalled by the memo,” Garland added. “Everything in the memo is horrible.
“Catholics are not extremists, no,” added the AG, who also told Van Drew “I don’t know” if anyone was fired over the release of the memo by the bureau’s Richmond field office.
Jeff Van Drew switched his party affiliation to Republican during the final year of the Trump administration.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Merrick Garland insists that he gave David Weiss the necessary authority to proceed with the case against Hunter Biden.AP
Garland, who is Jewish, stated earlier in the hearing that her family had “fled religious persecution in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century.”
His grandparents fled pogroms in modern-day Ukraine and Poland, although two of his grandmother’s siblings were killed in the Holocaust.
“This country accepted her and under the protection of our laws, she was able to live without fear of persecution,” Garland said of her grandmother during her opening remarks, then added: “Paying this country for my family’s debt for our lives has been the focus of all my professional career.”
Jim Jordan has gone to war to combat what he describes as the federal government’s weapon against conservatives. AP
Throughout the contentious hearing, Republicans berated Garland, accusing her Justice Department of having a double standard of justice for former President Donald Trump and eldest son Hunter Biden.
Garland departed from his typical soft-spoken demeanor and sometimes got fired up, pushing back against the GOP’s barrage of attacks.
A particular focus was the IRS whistleblower’s accusations of favoritism against Hunter. Garland insisted that current special counsel David Weiss “will have” full means to pursue the eldest son as he sees fit.
During FBI director Christopher Wray’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee in July, he also dismissed the controversial memo on Catholics.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Garland also sidestepped specific questions about the details of the case against Hunter, insisting that he intended not to interfere with it — though he acknowledged that other US attorneys could choose not to cooperate with Weiss in bringing charges against the younger Biden outside of Delaware.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is working to have Weiss testify publicly before his panel next month.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
