Biden introduces DOJ nominees including Merrick Garland
Biden introduced his nominees to the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon with a message that his administration will restore the law enforcement agency's political independence, which he argued has been damaged during Trump’s tenure.
“I want to be clear to those who lead this department who you will serve: You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me. It is to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation to guarantee justice,” Biden told the group.
On his nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland to serve as attorney general, Biden praised Garland's experience, character and bipartisan credentials, noting that it was “no surprise” that then-President Barack Obama once put his name forward to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Garland grew emotional when taking the podium, thanking his family with a quiver in his voice. He spoke about what drew him to the law, recalling the swearing in of former federal Judge Ed Leavy who said “our law is not an instrument of partisan purpose," and addressed Wednesday's chaos.
“As everyone who watched yesterday's events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyer's turn of phrase. It is the very foundation of our democracy," he said.
Garland committed, as Biden and Harris have, that the Department of Justice under his control would remain an independent entity.
Biden also introduced Lisa Monaco as his nominee for deputy attorney general, Vanita Gupta as his nominee for associate attorney general and Kristen Clarke as his nominee for assistant attorney general for the department's Civil Rights Division.
Before that, he squarely placed blame on Trump for Wednesday's events at the Capitol, calling the riots the "culmination" of Trump's "unrelenting attack" and "all-out assault on our institutions of democracy."
"They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. It's that basic. It's that simple. And I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming. But that isn't true," Biden said.
-ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle and Beatrice Peterson