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Trump Campaign Responds to Garland's Claims on the DOJ Being Used As 'Political Weapon'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 12, 2024 6:15 PM

On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland made some rather tone deaf remarks about the Department of Justice (DOJ) and political weaponization. His comments became a trending topic over X and prompted a response from the Trump-Vance campaign. 

In speaking about the DOJ's "norms," which he said "must not be taken for granted," Garland claimed they are "a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political interference in our criminal investigations" and are even "a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon."

Garland appeared to be entirely serious with such remarks, despite how the Biden-Harris DOJ has become very much weaponized, and against the administration's political opponents. This of course includes former and potentially future President Donald Trump, as well as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. Everyday Americans are targeted as well, though, such as concerned parents at school board meetings and pro-lifers praying outside abortion facilities.

Those who were prosecuted for their actions on January 6, 2021, which again, doesn't merely include Trump, but also those who were at the U.S. Capitol that day. The U.S. Supreme Court even had to step in with regards to how the DOJ had been weaponized in going after such defendants with the Fischer v. United States case. 

With the context of Trump, there's plenty of other lines from Garland that are less than believable. Before speaking about these "norms," Garland referenced "principles" that the department has.

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"'Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party," Garland said, quoting "Principles of Federal Prosecution."

"There is not one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, or different rules depending on one’s race or ethnicity," Garland then claimed. "To the contrary, we have only one rule: we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties."

Following such a line about "a political weapon," Garland also basked in applause from department members for another line about these so-called "norms."

"Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics," he said, putting a hand over his heart to acknowledge the applause.

The Trump-Vance campaign sent out a statement from spokesperson Steven Cheung that same day, which went after Garland for election interference and referred to the attorney general's comments as "disgraceful."

"Comrade Kamala Harris has weaponized the DOJ to target her political opponent, President Trump, in an unconstitutional and unprecedented Witch Hunt. The disgraceful conduct of Attorney General Merrick Garland has done tremendous damage to a once great institution. Using phony charges to interfere with the presidential election on behalf of the Democrat Party has to be stopped and those driving these Hoaxes have to be held accountable. Only President Trump can clean up the Harris-Biden disaster and Make America Great Again," Cheung said. 

In covering Garland's remarks for our sister site of RedState, Susie Moore noted that CNN was quick to reference Trump, but lacked any mention of cases against First Son Hunter Biden:

(No reference to accusations by Hunter Biden or his legal team that the very same DOJ was pursuing a "show trial" by prosecuting the First Son for tax evasion and attempting to "dehumanize" him. Funny that.)

Congressional Republicans tried to hold Garland accountable earlier this year after he defied congressional subpoenas for the audio of President Joe Biden's interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. Garland turned to writing an op-ed for The Washington Post to complain about being held accountable for such political targeting. While the House held Garland in contempt back in June, the DOJ announced they "determined" he was innocent just days later. 

Garland's remarks come days after Tuesday's ABC News debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. While Harris was all too happy to bring up that Trump has been "prosecuted" as a way for her to discuss "respect for the rule of law and respect for law enforcement," Trump promptly responded with criticism for the weaponized DOJ.

"Every one of those cases was started by them against their political opponent. And I'm winning most of them and I'll win the rest on appeal," Trump made clear. "It's weaponization. And they used it. And it's never happened in this country. They used it to try and win an election. They're fake cases," he also insisted.