WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general says the Justice Department must ensure laws are “fairly and faithfully enforced,” while reaffirming an adherence to policies to protect the department’s political independence. Judge Merrick Garland is set to appear Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In prepared remarks released Saturday night, Garland says the attorney general must act as a lawyer for the people of the United States, not for the president. If confirmed, Garland would inherit a Justice Department that endured political controversies under President Donald Trump and accusations that the nation’s top law enforcement agencies were being politicized.
