U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers a farewell address to the Justice Department in Washington

Merrick Garland’s Final Plea for Norms at the Justice Department

From the January 17, 2025, edition of The New Yorker newsletter: Fabio Bertoni reports from Washington. Plus: the coming sale of TikTok; Susan B. Glasser on “the Trump effect”; and remembering David Lynch.

Garlands Tells DOJ to Pursue Justice, Follow Norms in Farewell Speech

Attorney General Merrick Garland advised his colleagues to “follow our norms” and pursue justice, not politics, in his final address at the Department of Justice on Jan. 16. “Our norms are a promise to treat like cases alike—that we will not have one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for friends and another for foes,” Garland said. The norms, Garland stressed, include guaranteeing the independence of the DOJ’s investi…

Garland cautions against abuse of DOJ power in farewell address

Attorney General Merrick Garland gave a tearful goodbye while warning of the risks of “grave injustice” for those who abuse the Justice Department’s power. Much of Garland’s parting remarks were a defense of the agency he’s led the last four years while making veiled nods to the anxieties of those with a stake in the…

‘Justice not politics’ drove prosecutions: Outgoing US A-G Garland

He defended the Justice Department against what he called unfounded attacks.

Garland’s message to DOJ staffers: ‘You have worked to pursue justice, not politics’ - Overpasses For America

Attorney General Merrick Garland bid farewell to the Justice Department Thursday with an unmistakable call to its career staff to resist any efforts by the incoming Trump administration to turn the department into a political weapon. “It is the obligation of each of us to follow our norms, not only when it is easy, but also when it is hard, especially when it is hard,” Garland told hundreds of current and former DOJ staffers gathered in the Grea…

'Justice not politics' drove prosecutions: outgoing US attorney general

US Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the Justice Department on Thursday against what he called unfounded attacks and said prosecutions under his leadership were driven by "justice, not politics."Garland, in an emotional farewell speech to Justice Department employees, also stressed the impor...