President Joe Biden’s attorney general nominee, former federal Judge Merrick Garland, refused a pledge before lawmakers Monday to refrain from interfering with the Justice Department probe into the origins of the Russia hoax run by special counsel John Durham. When questioned by GOP senators, Garland said he wouldn’t commit to releasing the Durham report.
“If confirmed, would you commit to publicly releasing special counsel Durham’s report just like Mueller’s report [was] made public?” pressed Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I am a great believer in transparency,” Garland said, but offered no such commitment. “I would, though, have to talk with Mr. Durham and understand the nature of what he’s been doing and the nature of the report.”
Merrick Garland, @JoeBiden's nominee for attorney general, won't explicitly commit to releasing John Durham's report into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. pic.twitter.com/dTooCqrDLG
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 22, 2021
Durham’s probe into the origins of the great Russia hoax, where deep-state operatives within the FBI sought to indict President Donald Trump as a covert agent of the Kremlin, was launched in May 2019 shortly after the release of the Mueller report exposing the narrative as a conspiracy.
The Durham investigation, reportedly focused on the FBI, according to the New York Post, has so far led to the prosecution of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who was let off with a slap on the wrist by a federal court. Clinesmith was given one year probation and 400 hours of community service for falsifying evidence to obtain a spy warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
U.S. code, Fox News reports, dictates the special counsel’s final “confidential report” submitted to the attorney general must produce interim reports appropriate for “public dissemination.”
When pressed on whether he would recuse himself from the DOJ’s three investigations targeting the members of the Biden family, Garland told lawmakers he had not discussed them with the president.
.@ChuckGrassley: "Have you discussed this Hunter Biden case with the president…?"
Merrick Garland: "I have not. The president made abundantly clear…that decisions about investigations & prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department…the answer to your question is no." pic.twitter.com/our14FfnM9
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 22, 2021
