WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland told NBC News on Tuesday that he was outraged by the assassination attempt. former President Donald Trumpsays authorities must do everything they can to prevent this type of “horrific attack” from happening again.
“This shouldn’t happen in America. This kind of security failure is unacceptable,” Garland said in an exclusive sit-down interview that will air on “NBC Nightly News” Tuesday night. “This kind of horrific attack on a former American president cannot go on. We have to make sure we stop it.”
Garland said Trump was hit by a bulletand even the authorities had “no question” that Trump was “the object of a conspiracy.” still trying to determine a motive. Garland said it was “extremely disturbing” that the shooter was able to get so close to the former president.
“Democracy will not survive if people decide that killing someone is the way to get the result they want, or any other motive,” Garland said. That’s why we need to find out what happened here, why it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
With the 2024 presidential election less than 100 days away, Garland also warned that political violence poses a greater threat in America’s “more polarized society,” pointing to a “pretty scary” rise in threats.
“Political violence goes against the very essence of what makes this country different from many other countries. We’re a democracy, people voice their opinions, but ultimately they decide things by voting, by having their representatives vote and then accepting the results,” Garland said.
Garland also warned of threats to law enforcement, saying that when people “call out” the names of individual career prosecutors and FBI special agents, they increase the risk to those individuals.
“I think that the personification of these issues, the naming of individuals and the naming of career people who are just doing their jobs puts people at risk,” Garland said.
Already with Trump again raises doubts Regarding the results of the November election, Garland also warned that “democracy will not survive” if those who lost the election deny the results.
“It’s a democracy, and in a democracy, like I said, people argue vociferously with each other, yell at each other, disagree with each other and then vote. And that’s how we solve things,” Garland said. “There will always be winners and losers… and that person’s supporters will always be upset. But in a democracy, we have to accept the consequences. Otherwise, democracy will not survive. I can say that America’s elections are the safest on the planet, and if our democracy is going to survive, everyone has to accept that.”
On the eve of the first election certificate since then Attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Garland said the Justice Department’s job is to ensure “fair, safe and secure” elections, and the DOJ will do everything in its power to make sure that happens. Garland said there are “lessons” that have been taken into account since Jan. 6.
Garland also disagreed with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon judgment that his appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional, and that the decision could theoretically affect all special counsel appointments.
“I chose this room for this interview. It’s my favorite room in the Justice Department. It’s the law library. I’ve been a federal judge for over 20 years,” Garland said. “Do I look like someone who made a fundamental mistake about the law? I don’t think so.”
followed by Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, Garland stressed the importance of independence and separation between the Justice Department and the White House. that’s it is of great concern for DOJ graduates who approve Vice President Kamala Harris because they worry that an unhinged Trump will use the Justice Department for a second term to pursue personal vendettas and protect himself and his political allies from criminal prosecution.
“I think the lessons of Watergate are that there needs to be separation between the Justice Department and the White House, whether it’s the separation required by law or the political separation necessary to ensure confidence in the rule of law. Law enforcement efforts are political in one way or another. no, we have to have that distinction,” Garland said.
Garland appointed special counsel investigating President Joe Biden and issued a verdict his son Hunter BidenHe said it was a “very difficult task” to convey to Americans the message that the Justice Department works independently.
“What we do internally is to make sure that every prosecutor knows that it’s their job to do the right thing in an individual case, to put politics out of their discretion in any way,” Garland said. “This has been a message at the Justice Department since I first arrived in the post-Watergate years. It is part of the DNA of every federal prosecutor, as part of our federal prosecution principles.”
Garland also said the video The murder of Sonya Massey It was “horrific” by a sheriff’s deputy in Illinois. He said the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is closely monitoring the state prosecution of the officer who fatally shot him; the deputy comes face to face murder charges.