[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 43 (Thursday, March 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1074-S1075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, it has been a year since we in the 
Senate confirmed Merrick Garland to be Attorney General.
  During his confirmation hearing, I outlined what a successful 
Department of Justice looks like and what I expected of him as our new 
Attorney General. I gave him the answers to the tests. By this rubric, 
he has failed. For instance, I urged him to build off the successes 
from the previous Justice Department to reduce crime, maintain the rule 
of law, and protect our civil liberties. But violent crime continues to 
rise, the rule of law is undermined, and our civil liberties are in 
danger.
  Instead of condemning all violent crime, Attorney General Garland's 
Justice Department targets lawful gun owners and blames those gun 
owners for the rising murder rates, carjackings, and attacks against 
law enforcement.
  But the explosion of crime in blue cities is actually tied to 
depolicing measures, hiring progressive prosecutors, and enacting 
disastrous bail reform policies. Lawful gun owners are not to blame for 
this rise in crime.
  And in the midst of a crime spike, a number of Biden appointees and 
judicial nominees strongly backed by Attorney General Garland have 
supported radical ideas in the past, like defunding the police or at 
least reducing funding for police. And some have even advocated not 
prosecuting certain crimes. So how do you expect to effectively fight 
crime with the lineup that I just gave you?
  Instead of tackling the opioid crisis, the Garland Justice Department 
wants to make it easier for fentanyl traffickers to spread their 
poison. Fentanyl analogs are responsible for most overdose deaths and 
are lethal in very tiny amounts, as we all know. But the Garland and 
Biden administration support eliminating mandatory minimums for these 
fentanyl analog dealers. Really?
  In addition, Garland has wielded his power to undermine the rule of 
law and cave to political pressures. The Attorney General has summarily 
reversed a number of decisions issued by Attorneys General Sessions and 
Barr that helped enhance the integrity of our asylum system.
  This Attorney General has also issued memos, interpretations, and 
filings to the Supreme Court that contrast with previous Department of 
Justice positions.
  Let me give you an example. His Department of Justice reinterpreted 
the law to make sure that inmates released to home confinement under 
COVID relief stay there. His Solicitor General also switched positions 
on a cocaine sentencing case that was before the Supreme Court. Now, it 
happens that both of these policy outcomes align with my positions. I 
agree with those outcomes. But his way of getting there is political. 
Rule of law must be consistent and not political.
  So Garland's flip-flopping also jeopardizes our Nation's security. 
Instead of protecting the American people from the Chinese Communist 
Party's espionage, he disbanded the previous administration's 
successful China Initiative. This program prioritized investigations of 
national security from China, which is still a very serious threat 
given that the FBI opens a new Chinese espionage case every 12 hours. 
So I don't know why this would be disbanded. This move is concerning 
and dangerous to our national security and reflective of partisan 
pressures trumping smart law enforcement.
  Also, political decisions are getting in the way of the consistent 
application of the rule of law. For example, Attorney General Garland's 
Department of Justice is politically selective about which cases to 
pursue and which cases to dismiss. Despite the 100-night siege against 
the Portland courthouse in 2020 and 96 people being charged as violent 
rioters, almost half of those charged have been dismissed.
  Compare this to the Department of Justice's own statement on the 1-
year anniversary of January 6:

       The Department of Justice's resolve to hold accountable 
     those who committed crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, has not, and will 
     not, wane.

  Now, we all know that those who break the law should be held 
accountable--no question about that. And as our Nation's top law 
enforcement officer, it is incumbent upon him to enforce the rule of 
law. He cannot pick and choose when the rule of law is politically 
convenient or easy.
  Under Garland's leadership, the Department of Justice is also 
undermining valuable civil rights. This is something that he and I have 
had a lot of discussions on as he has appeared before our committee.
  So undermining valuable civil rights, instead of prioritizing that, 
Attorney General Garland has killed the speech of American parents. He 
sent a memo to the FBI and the U.S. attorneys around the country to be 
on the lookout for upset parents at school boards. He did this after 
the National School Boards Association suggested that some people 
should be branded domestic terrorists. Imagine that charge--that you go 
to a school board meeting, you might be a domestic terrorist.
  What is even worse, there seems to be some evidence that the 
Secretary of Education may have asked the National School Boards 
Association to write that awful letter, which the association later had 
to apologize for. Garland says his memo was just about violence and 
threats of violence; but sure enough, whistleblower reports show that 
the FBI's counterterrorism division was looking way beyond only 
violence and threats. Parents' ability to voice their concerns, 
especially now, is a precious right, and the Department of Justice's 
actions cannot kill such vital speech constitutionally protected by the 
First Amendment.
  Also, instead of being responsive, the Attorney General has been 
evasive. Last year, I sent approximately 50 letters to the Department. 
That is one-third of all letters that they received from Members of the 
U.S. Senate.

  The Attorney General wanted me to know that I sent one-third of all 
the letters he got from the other 99 Senators. So when the Attorney 
General told me that, I don't think he meant it as a compliment.
  I received some letters in response. However, when I am told that 
they have responded to me, simple or lots of words on a piece of paper 
don't, in and of themselves, make a letter responsive.
  Furthermore, the Department has failed to provide responsive records, 
with the exception of one or two small productions. By way of example, 
I received a 30-page production of records from the Department. It 
included improper FOIA redactions and failed to

[[Page S1075]]

include the necessary spreadsheets. Accordingly, that production is a 
failed production because FOIA does not apply to documents going to the 
Congress of the United States, so you shouldn't have that redaction.
  Also, I have repeatedly asked if Nicholas McQuaid is recused from the 
Hunter Biden criminal investigation, and that is an important thing 
because he seemed to work in the law firm that was representing Hunter 
Biden. And it ought to be a simple question to answer, but Attorney 
General Garland refuses to tell me whether McQuaid is recused from 
those cases.
  At the Judiciary Committee's October 27, 2021, Justice Department 
oversight hearing, I said to Attorney General Garland:

       When I placed holds on your nominees for the Department's 
     failure to comply with Republican oversight requests, I said 
     either you run the Department or the Department runs you. 
     Right now, it looks like the Justice Department is running 
     you.

  That ends my quote of October 27 last year.
  So that statement still holds true. Instead of protecting the 
American people, the Attorney General is sacrificing our Nation's top 
law enforcement agency to politics during a violent crime spike. 
Instead of being stewards of our Nation's laws, the Attorney General is 
leading the charge upending the rule of law. Instead of fighting for 
civil rights, he is chipping away at those civil rights.
  Attorney General Garland, there is still time to change. You have 3 
years left in this administration. I urge you to change course. I urge 
you to bring the Justice Department back to a place of leadership: 
leadership in reducing violent crime, leadership in maintaining the 
rule of law, and leadership in protecting our civil liberties.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.

                          ____________________