Merrick Garland vows to enforce ‘equal justice’ as Biden’s AG amid pressure for prosecution of Trump

Merrick Garland, the onetime Supreme Court nominee picked by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as attorney general, pledged Thursday to pursue prosecutions without fear or favor amid mounting pressure for President Donald Trump to face criminal charges when he leaves office.

After being formally introduced by Biden as his nominee to lead the Justice Department, Garland cited Wednesday’s deadly Trump-inspired assault on the U.S. Capitol as an example of how “critical” it is to have an independent-minded attorney general at the helm of the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency.

“As everyone who watched yesterday’s events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyer’s turn of phrase,” Garland said at Biden’s transition team headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, the president-elect seated by his side.

“The essence of the rule of law is that all cases are treated alike. Not one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless.”

Garland, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was infamously railroaded by Senate Republicans in 2016, revealed he had received a commitment from Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris that he will be able to run his Justice Department without interference from the White House.

“He promised that the person he chose to the lead the department would have the independent capacity to decide who gets prosecuted and who doesn’t,” said Garland. “I would not have agreed to be considered for attorney general under any other conditions.”

The question of whether Trump could face prosecution after leaving the White House is becoming increasingly urgent as his presidency drags toward an end.

The outgoing president has long faced various legal troubles in New York and elsewhere relating to his financial entanglements, potential fraudulent businesses transactions and illegal hush payments he issued to two of his alleged paramours before the 2016 election. The potential legal exposure has reportedly prompted Trump to discuss the possibility of giving himself a preemptive self-pardon, though such an unprecedented action would not rub out any potential state prosecutions.

Historically, Justice Departments have been wary of prosecuting former presidents, reasoning it would unnecessarily inflame partisan tensions.

But some legal experts and lawmakers say the depths of Trump’s alleged lawlessness necessitates he be prosecuted, especially given Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.

“When he leaves office, Trump must be prosecuted for his crimes, including his incitement to violence, which is a treasonous felony,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., the chairman of the House Law Enforcement Caucus.

Since his election, Biden has stayed conspicuously mum on whether the Justice Department would attempt to prosecute Trump after he leaves office.

But the chaos at the Capitol — which Trump incited by urging the far-right rioters to “fight like hell” to overturn Biden’s election — brought a new layer of urgency to the complex question.

“For the past four years, we’ve had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law clear in everything he has done,” Biden said during his Garland introduction. “He unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of democracy. Yesterday was the culmination of that unrelenting attack.”

At least four people died during the clashes at the Capitol, as Trump’s far-right supporters, many of whom were armed, attacked police officers and vandalized the historic building.

Besides potential prosecutions, members of Congress, mostly Democrats, are mounting a push to remove Trump from office before Biden’s inauguration, either via impeachment or by convincing Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.

“I support whatever steps must be taken to get Trump out of office NOW,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. “We can’t even wait two weeks for the inauguration.”