Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday defended the special counsel who pursued criminal charges against Donald Trump, his first public remarks on the former president’s indictment.
Garland, however, declined to go in to further detail about the prosecution of the former president over his handling of classified documents.
“As you know, I can’t talk about the particulars of this or any other ongoing criminal matter,” Garland told reporters at the start of a meeting with U.S. attorneys at the Department of Justice.
He had been asked to share when he first learned that special counsel Jack Smith was moving toward an indictment. The questioner also referenced the recent swell of criticism from Trump’s allies and other Republicans who have accused the Justice Department of being weaponized.
“As I said when I appointed Mr. Smith, I did so because it underscores the Justice Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability,” the attorney general said.
“Mr. Smith is a veteran career prosecutor. He has assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law,” Garland said.
“Any questions about this matter will have to be answered by their filings in court,” he added.
A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.
The exchange marked the first time Garland publicly discussed Trump’s indictment on 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified records that were stored at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago after he left office.
The former president pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment Tuesday in federal court in Miami.
Garland was also asked to detail whether he had a role in the indictment process. “My role is completely consistent with the regulations that set forth responsibilities to the attorney general, under the special counsel regulations, and I followed those regulations,” he said.
He declined another request to explain why the unprecedented federal indictment of a former president was the “best and most appropriate step” to take.
Garland appointed Smith in November, days after Trump announced he would run for president in the 2024 election. The attorney general, who was picked by President Joe Biden, said at the time that he took that step so that prosecutors could “make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”
Smith took the helm of the ongoing criminal investigation into the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and another criminal probe into the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump and his defenders have nevertheless attacked Smith before and after the federal grand jury returned its indictment. After his arraignment, Trump assailed Smith as a “deranged lunatic” during a campaign-style speech at his New Jersey golf club.
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