Washington – During hearings on Merrick Garland's nomination to be President Joe Biden's attorney general, the longtime federal appeals court judge told senators in 2021 that he hoped to “turn down the volume” on public discourse about the Justice Department and return to the days when the agency was not the “center of partisan disagreement.”

After a tumultuous tenure clouded by two failed criminal prosecutions against the incoming president, Attorney General Merrick Garland is leaving the Justice Department the same way he came in: trying to defend it against political attacks.

Those close to Garland say that despite immense political pressures, he stood firm in his commitment to independence and impartiality.

In his farewell address, Attorney General Merrick Garland sought to encourage an embattled DOJ facing uncertainty and to unabashedly defend his tenure and their work.

Kristen Clarke, the first Black woman chosen to be the nation's top civil rights enforcer, called leaving the DOJ 'a bittersweet moment.'

Republicans, and some Democrats, have blasted Biden's attorney general for his handling of Jack Smith's appointment and release of a report on Donald Trump.

The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital

In a farewell speech to Justice Department staffers, outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appeared to rebuke attacks from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies who have "wrongly criticized" the department as politically motivated.

Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release a report on the election-interference investigation into Donald Trump 'when permitted' by the courts.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats asked Garland to save all records related to the DOJ’s two criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, preparing to step down from his post, will urge career civil servants at the Justice Department on Thursday not to let unfair criticism prevent them from doing what is right for the country.

From there, they examined the so-called war room setup at the Willard hotel in Washington, where Steve Bannon and other ... critics of Attorney General Merrick Garland, including some inside the Justice Department, have tended to zero in on decisions ...