Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Live updates: Merrick Garland testifies at the House Judiciary Committee's DOJ hearing

house judiciary committee

The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, federal administrative agencies, and federal law enforcement entities. The Judiciary Committee is often involved in the impeachment process against federal officials.

Hearings

Garland again repeated that “no one has told me who should be indicted in any matter like this, and the decision about indictment was made by Mr. Smith,” referring to special counsel Jack Smith. The combative hearing offered a preview of the coming Republican impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden focused on allegations surrounding his son, Hunter Biden, as House Republicans peppered Garland with questions. Any legislation that carries a possibility for criminal or civil penalties can be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, so its legislative workload is substantial. The committee’s weighty agenda has frequently placed it in a central role in American politics, most notably during its consideration of impeachment charges against presidents of the United States in both 1974 and 1998. “The fundamental mission of any prosecutor’s office is to uphold the rule of law.

Hearings/Bills/Markups

Today, the Committee is at the forefront of some of the most significant issues facing our nation, including protecting Constitutional freedoms and civil liberties, oversight of the U.S. The House Judiciary Committee usually sends the greatest number of substantive bills to the House floor each year. “When Pomerantz appeared before the Judiciary Committee to discuss his book and politically motivated investigation, he was unusually silent—refusing to answer even the most basic of questions,” the committee members wrote in the report, which includes a transcript of Mr. Pomerantz’s deposition.

White House calls House Judiciary Committee hearing a "circus"

house judiciary committee

And one of the hallmarks of this mission is to ensure that justice is blind—applied fairly and equally,” the committee wrote in the release. De Moraes swiftly included Musk in the ongoing investigation of digital militias, and launched a separate investigation into whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement. On April 13, X’s legal representative in Brazil wrote to de Moraes that it will comply with all court orders, according to the letter, seen by the AP. De Moraes’ critics claim he has abused his powers and shouldn’t be allowed to unilaterally ban social media accounts, including those of democratically elected legislators.

President Trump has denied the affair and any wrongdoing, alleging that the case is politically motivated. The committee highlighted Mr. Pomerantz’s various grievances with President Trump, as outlined in his book, along with the former special prosecutor’s eagerness to see the former president prosecuted. “Pomerantz’s own words show how the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, populated with partisans who openly bragged about their desire to get President Trump, used its immense power in the persecution of a person, not a crime,” the report states. Mr. Pomerantz, who authored a book titled “People vs. Donald Trump,” was a Manhattan prosecutor under Mr. Bragg. He resigned in 2022 because of Mr. Bragg’s initial unwillingness to pursue a criminal case against the former president.

Members, 118th Congress

Its infrequent but important role in impeachment proceedings has also brought it much attention. In the 116th Congress, the House flipped from Republican to Democratic control. Doug Collins, a Republican from Georgia's 9th congressional district, became ranking member and served from 2019 to 2020. In early 2020, Collins stepped down from his leadership position when he became a candidate in the 2020 special election held to replace retiring U.S. Under House Republican rules, members must relinquish leadership positions if they launch a bid for another office.[3] Collins was succeeded as ranking member by Jordan, who represents Ohio's 4th congressional district, but who has never taken a bar examination or practiced law.

Republican Members

The House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland is in a short break. Throughout the hearing so far, Garland has forcefully rebuked congressional Republicans who have accused the Justice Department of political bias. Pressed by Massie for information related to several active probes during a hearing Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, Garland told the Kentucky Republican that it is Justice Department policy not to comment about ongoing investigations. Due to the legal nature of the committee’s work it has been customary for members of the committee to have a legal background.

house judiciary committee

De Moraes has overseen a five-year probe of so-called “digital militias,” who allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats to Supreme Court justices. The investigation expanded to include those inciting demonstrations across the country, seeking to overturn Bolsonaro’s 2022 election loss. Those protests culminated in the Jan. 8 uprising in Brazil’s capital, with Bolsonaro supporters storming government buildings, including the Supreme Court, in an attempt to oust President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from office. House Judiciary Committee on Monday asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to provide documents and information about its raid at the home last month of the Little Rock airport director who died after a shootout with agents serving a search warrant. “I will say to you the same thing that I said to all 56 of our field offices as soon as I read the memo, which is that the FBI is not in the business of investigating or policing speech at school board meetings or anywhere else for that matter,” said Wray. But the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, said the hearing was “little more than performance art” by Republicans who are undertaking what he called baseless investigations too far-fetched to be true.

In a time of great change and scientific progress an expanding list of issues, including intellectual property, cloning, and the internet, require committee members to possess a wide breadth of knowledge in order to effectively address concerns from these and other new areas. The Antitrust Task Force during the 110th Congress was established February 28, 2007, as a temporary subcommittee to examine the pending merger between XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.[10] The task force operated like any other subcommittee, except that it only has a six-month term. In the 118th Congress, the chairman of the committee is Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio, and the ranking minority member is Democrat Jerry Nadler of New York. The House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report detailing mismanagement, waste, and abuse of government resources by senior leadership at the FTC—specifically Chair Khan, her direct staff, and the Bureau of Competition Front Office. The report also details what it describes as evidence of Mr. Bragg’s open animosity towards President Trump while taking a sharply critical view of the DA’s decision to bootstrap misdemeanor charges into felonies. In the U.S., free speech is a constitutional right that’s much more permissive than in other countries, including Brazil.

Republicans on the panel have grilled Garland with questions about the investigation into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and his now-scuttled plea deal, as well as special counsel Jack Smith’s two indictments of Trump. During the hearing, Republicans have attacked Garland over the handling of the investigation as well as the appointment of US Attorney David Weiss — who negotiated a scuttled plea deal with Hunter Biden — to be special counsel last month. The report details the backdrop of Mr. Bragg’s decision to charge President Trump with 34 felony counts using a novel legal theory that bootstrapped misdemeanor allegations into a felony, alleging that the prosecution was motivated by political calculations. The Supreme Court’s press office said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the orders do not contain justifications, but said the company and people with suspended accounts can gain access by requesting the decisions from the court.

Republicans have held hearings with former FBI agents, Twitter executives and federal officials to make the case that the FBI has been corruptly using its powers against Trump and the right. The GOP has formed a special committee on “weaponization” of government, also led by Jordan, to investigate abusee. Three panels opened a joint investigation into the Hunter Biden case, and one announced Wednesday that the two IRS whistleblowers who claimed Justice improperly interfered in the case will appear before Congress next week. The Committee on the Judiciary has been called the lawyer for the House of Representatives because of its jurisdiction over matters relating to the administration of justice in federal courts, administrative bodies, and law enforcement agencies.

While Musk has repeatedly decried de Moraes’ orders as suppressing “free speech” principles and amounting to “aggressive censorship,” the company under his ownership has bowed to government requests from around the world. “To comply with its obligations under U.S. law, X Corp. has responded to the Committee,” the company said in a statement on X on April 15. Arkansas State Police said it would forward the case file on its investigation Tuesday to the local prosecutor to determine whether the shooting was justified. Such investigations don't include a recommendation, state police said, and wouldn't review the agency's tactics.

Ranking Member Nadler Opening Statement for House Judiciary Committee IP Subcommittee Hearing on Artificial ... - Jerry Nadler

Ranking Member Nadler Opening Statement for House Judiciary Committee IP Subcommittee Hearing on Artificial ....

Posted: Wed, 10 Apr 2024 14:48:45 GMT [source]

Today, Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following statement on the House Floor, as prepared, in support of H.R. Since the start of the 117th Congress the House Judiciary Committee has held more than 70 hearings, passed over 70 bills out of the House, and marked up over 75 bills. Below is a list of the majority of the work the Committee has done under various topic areas. Garland also denied interfering in the Hunter Biden probe and said he was not instructed to charge Donald Trump with federal crimes, pushing back against comments made by the former president over the weekend. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday that women living in states where abortion is banned have a constitutional right to travel to other states to get access to the procedure.

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