Attorney general article

William Flores, a political and social science professor at the University of Houston-Downtown, called the situation “absolutely historic”. “This is a Republican-led impeachment against one of the highest Republican leaders in the state. It is absolutely unprecedented, at least in recent times,” Flores said. The Republican-majority Texas congress had largely remained silent on Paxton’s ethically questionable conduct that dates back before his first term in 2014, when the Texas state securities board fined him for violating financial laws. In 2020, things heated up when aides from his own office asked the FBI to investigate him. They alleged Paxton abused his power by accepting bribes in the form of donations from a real estate developer. They also claimed Paxton recommended that a wealthy donor to his campaign hire a woman with whom he was having an affair. Read more When Paxton fired the staff members, they claimed he was unlawfully retaliating. In May, the It’s not surprising for politicians to be embroiled in a scandal, but it is unusual for Texas Paxton belongs to the most extreme wing of his party. He is the architect of some of the most severe voting restrictions imposed on the state, such as preventing most More recently, Paxton launched an investigation into Austin’s He also stands in staunch opposition to reproductive choice and federal immigration policy, and in firm support of gun rights despite the string of school mass shootings his state has suffered. In 2022...

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden look on as Merrick Garland delivers remarks after being nominated to be US attorney general, in Wilmington on Thursday. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Kamala Harris and Joe Biden look on as Merrick Garland delivers remarks after being nominated to be US attorney general, in Wilmington on Thursday. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Speaking a day after a violent mob stormed the US Capitol, the president-elect said Garland, whose “You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice-president’s lawyer,” Biden said in remarks from Wilmington, Delaware, that started by denouncing the violence that marked “one of the darkest days in the history of our nation”. “Your loyalty is not to me. It’s to the law, to the constitution to the people of this nation.” The president-elect called Garland, a judge on the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, “one of the most respected jurists of our time”. He would be, Biden continued, an impartial administrator of justice and not the “personal attorney to the president” and, alongside his other nominees to lead the department, would restore Americans’ faith in the rule of law and seek to build a more equitable system of justice. In his remarks, Garland cited the founding ethos of the department – equal justice under the law – and stressed his commitment to restoring integrity and morale after a tumultuous four years of intense politicization under the Trump administrati...

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland declined to answer questions about the “As I said when I appointed Mr. Smith, I did so because it underscores the Justice Department’s commitment to independence and accountability,” Garland told reporters assembled in the attorney general’s fifth-floor conference room on Wednesday, where he was meeting with federal prosecutors across the country to discuss violent crime. “Mr. Smith is a veteran career prosecutor. He assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law,” Garland said. Garland pointed the public to the special counsel regulations, which leave Smith to make the prosecutorial decision and allow the attorney general to overrule only in limited circumstances. In that scenario, Garland would have had to inform Congress about his decision to overrule Smith. Because Smith moved forward with a prosecution, there was no role for Garland to play in the process. Trump and his supporters have made unsubstantiated claims that President Joe Biden and Garland directed Smith to charge Trump. Garland, a former judge, said Wednesday that his role was spelled out in the regulations, though he declined to specify when exactly he was informed of Smith’s decision to charge Trump in the case. The federal grand jury in Florida returned an indictment against Trump on Thursday, and the

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is pictured during a Justice Department event on May 24. On Wednesday, he defended the integrity of the special counsel investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents after leaving office. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is pictured during a Justice Department event on May 24. On Wednesday, he defended the integrity of the special counsel investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents after leaving office. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Attorney General Merrick Garland is defending his prosecutors and agents against rhetorical attacks from its most famous defendant, the former President Donald Trump. Garland reiterated that "Mr. Smith is a veteran career prosecutor. He has assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law," Garland told reporters at an event focused on violent crime on Wednesday. Former prosecutors and legal experts including Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr said Smith and his team had assembled a mountain of evidence against Trump. Trump's allies in Congress this week have pledged to withhold funding for the FBI and to block Justice Department nominees from receiving votes in the Senate in the wake of the indictment.