Attorney General Merrick Garland denounces ‘dangerous’ and ‘outrageous’ attacks on prosecutors and Justice Department staff

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to denounce “dangerous” and “outrageous” attacks on prosecutors and Justice Department staff on Thursday and seek to reassure them that he stands by them.

In a speech to his staff scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET, Garland will say there has been “an escalation of attacks on career lawyers, agents and other Justice Department personnel” over the past three and a half years, according to excerpts released ahead of his remarks.

“These attacks have taken the form of conspiracy theories, dangerous lies, attempts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly targeting them, and threats of actual violence,” Garland said. “It is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them.”

“It is dangerous to target and intimidate employees of this department simply for doing their jobs,” Garland added. “And it is outrageous that you have to face these baseless attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law.”

The attorney general will also say that he and other department officials will “fiercely protect” the Justice Department’s independence from “political interference in our criminal investigations,” will not allow the department to be used “as a political weapon” and will not allow law enforcement to be “treated as a political apparatus.”

Garland will list, according to excerpts, steps the department has already taken to protect DOJ criminal and civil decisions, such as reinstating policies governing communication between DOJ employees, Congress and the White House. Other steps have included improving and clarifying guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations and issuing new policies to guide “prosecutor discretion in charging, pleading and sentencing.”

He will say of the attacks on prosecutors: “You deserve better. You deserve to be recognized for the noble and difficult work that you do. You deserve to be recognized for the integrity and the competence with which you do that work.”

“You also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and the extraordinary people who work here,” Garland said.

Since leaving office in 2021, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the Justice Department over its investigations and indictments against him. Trump and his lawyers have claimed that the Justice Department was used as a weapon to target him, largely in an effort to prevent him from being elected to another term as president.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Garland’s remarks.

The former president has spoken disparagingly of Justice Department employees, such as calling special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted Trump in various cases, “deranged.” He has also threatened prosecutors, saying in a Truth Social post last year, referring to the 2020 federal election interference charges against him, “IF YOU SUE ME, I WILL SUE YOU!” As a result, judges have instituted gag orders to prevent Trump from speaking about certain officials in various cases.

Smith was even the target of a swatting incident, as were judges involved in Trump’s cases.

During the six-week New York trial over the silencing of journalists earlier this year, Trump said almost daily outside court that Biden’s Justice Department was being used as a weapon against him. The case, however, was not federal; it was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump was ultimately convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

In recent weeks, Trump has repeated threats that he plans to use the Justice Department to prosecute people he suspects prosecuted him while he was out of office.

After a recent rally, Trump wrote on social media: “WHEN I WIN, the people who CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include lengthy prison sentences. Please note that this legal exposure extends to lawyers, political operatives, donors, illegal voters, and corrupt election officials.”