Attorney General Garland: "We will not allow this Department to be used as a political weapon..."

this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutor toal discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshal who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legit iate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause]