On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed his availability to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and has jurisdiction over the Justice Department, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) raised the matter during a House Appropriations Committee meeting.
My chairperson, Mr. Jordan, has requested me to inquire about his January letter requesting your testimony before his committee. That message has gone unanswered,” Cline said. The lawmaker hoped to “get a promise” from Garland that he would get back to Jordan soon.
Garland responded, “Of course I’m going to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.”
In addition, the attorney general stated, “there are conversations about scheduling that have been going on,” emphasizing that he does not feel there have been any issues in those discussions.
Garland began, “I am willing.” after Cline pointed out for a second time that he had received no formal answer to the message and pushed for a commitment to show. Definitely up for it.”
Several requests for papers and information made by Jordan before the Republicans assumed charge of the House this session of Congress were still outstanding as of mid-January, according to a memo sent by Jordan to Garland.
Immigration legislation, the FBI raid on former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and the handling of journalists are just a few of the problems being investigated by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee.
Jordan revealed subpoenas for papers related to the alleged targeting of parents at school board meetings in early February, and they were issued to several members of the Biden administration, including Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The Department of Justice fired back at the subpoenas, calling them “premature” and claiming that they had “offered to interact with the Committee and provide material freely.”
Materials obtained through subpoenas led the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to conclude in a preliminary staff report released this month that there was “no legitimate basis” for Garland’s October 2021 memo disclosing plans for the FBI, U.S. attorneys, and others to meet and strategize about addressing threats to school officers across the country.
Particularly among Conservatives, there has been worry that the Biden administration is unfairly going after parents who voice their opinions at school board sessions. Garland told Cline on Wednesday that the memo’s “target” was aggression and threats of violence, not “parents demonstrating to their school boards.”