Providence, RI – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former U.S. Attorney, released the following statement today regarding President-elect Biden’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to serve as Attorney General:
“For four dark years, Donald Trump and his cronies waged all-out war on the traditions, values, and independence of the Justice Department. They spurned long-held norms and rules that stood in their way. They pushed career attorneys to represent the political and personal interests of the president. They even tried to bend the law to advantage the president, no matter the cost to the work and reputation of the Department.
“This nomination is a turning point. For those of us who served in the Department before Trump, we remember a citadel of law that repelled cronyism and corruption and that served justice for Americans above all else. There is nobody more committed to those values than Merrick Garland.
“Now, Judge Garland faces the difficult task of restoring the Department’s independence and position of respect in our justice system. I have every confidence that he will.”
