President-elect Joe Biden Joe Biden Biden 'disappointed' in Senate parliamentarian ruling but 'respects' decision Taylor Swift celebrates House passage of Equality Act Donald Trump Jr. calls Bruce Springsteen's dropped charges 'liberal privilege' MORE on Thursday formally announced plans to nominate federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by The AIDS Institute - Finger-pointing on Capitol riot; GOP balks at Biden relief plan McConnell backs Garland for attorney general Biden can redeem checkered past and regenerate hope for millions with criminal justice reform MORE as attorney general and unveiled the names of three additional nominees to top positions at the Department of Justice. Biden intends to nominate veteran prosecutor Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general; Vanita Gupta , an experienced civil rights attorney, as associate attorney general; and Kristen Clarke Kristen Clarke Evidence-based paths toward criminal justice reform Biden to introduce Garland as attorney general, other top DOJ nominees MORE as assistant attorney general for civil rights. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Kamala Harris To unite America, Biden administration must brace for hate Democratic strategists start women-run media consulting firm Grassley to vote against Tanden nomination MORE will introduce the nominees during an event later Thursday, according to the transition team. ADVERTISEMENT Biden described the four individuals as “first-rate nominees” who would restore independence at the Justice Department. “Our first-rate nominees to lead the Justice Department are eminently qualified, embody character and judgment that is beyond reproach, and have devoted their careers to serving the American people with honor and integrity,” Biden said in a statement. “They will restore the independence of the ...
When was kamala harris attorney general
Jen Psaki Defends Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Public Silence on Andrew Cuomo Scandal
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday for remaining publicly silent on the Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment scandal. Psaki reminded reporters during the White House press briefing that she spoke on behalf of Harris and Biden. “The benefit of doing a briefing every day is that I can certainly speak on behalf of the president and the vice president,” she said. Psaki said that both Harris and Biden believed in the right for any woman to come forward. “The president believes as I’ve noted that every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard and treated with respect,” she said. She also claimed that both Harris and Biden supported the investigation into Cuomo’s behavior. “There is an investigation, an independent investigation that’s being overseen by the Attorney General which has subpoena power and we certainly support that moving forward,” she said. Cuomo’s third accuser, Anna Ruch, worked for Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign as a voter activation director in southwest Florida and also worked as a photo editor in the Obama White House. Psaki confirmed that Ruch worked on the campaign but expressed doubt that Biden knew her personally. “I’m not aware of a personal relationship that they had, or that he knew her personally,” she said, reminding reporters that she also did not work for the campaign before joining the administration. “I’m sure she has a number of people she still remains in touch with from the campaign,” she said. Psaki also declined to say whether Biden had reached out to Ruch after her accusations against Cuomo. When asked whether Biden believed that Cuomo should continue to lead the National Governors Association, Psaki demurred. “That’s a decision for the NGA, not a decision for the president, or the White House,” she said. ...
Shattered glass portrait erected in DC to celebrate Harris
A shattered glass portrait of Vice President Harris meant to depict her glass ceiling-shattering career was erected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this week.Groups seeking to memorialize Harris's historic achievement of becoming the first Black and Asian American woman to hold the office of vice president in the United States unveiled the portrait, which is 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide, in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday.View from the Lincoln Memorial pic.twitter.com/vTKJYzwSmW— Isabel Lara (@isalara) February 5, 2021ADVERTISEMENT“This will just be a wonderful visual emblem of this moment in time and hopefully people will reflect a little bit on all the barriers that have been broken by her election,” Holly Hotchner, president and CEO of the National Women's History Museum, a co-sponsor of the project, told The Associated Press.Harris has broken barriers not only as vice president but also as the first woman and person of color to serve as district attorney of San Francisco and the first Black person to serve as California's attorney general and to represent the state in the Senate.The project was commissioned by creative agency BBH New York, which hired Swedish artist Simon Berger.Extraordinary >> NEW Portrait of @VP Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisSunday shows preview: Budget resolution clears path for .9 trillion stimulus; Senate gears up for impeachment trial Shattered glass portrait erected in DC to celebrate Harris Biden doubles down on normal at White House MORE at the Lincoln Memorial... #GlassCeilingBreaker @WUSA9 @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/3kIyqpnAtS— Mike Valerio (@MikevWUSA) February 5, 2021ADVERTISEMENTBerger, who specializes in glass artistry, used a photo of Harris taken by New York photographer Celeste Sloman as inspiration for his work. He hammered into laminated glass in order to create the shattered effect that forms the portrait, AP reported.“I hit the glass directly ...
Biden’s Pick for Attorney General No Stranger to Washington Politics
U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick for attorney general, Merrick Garland, is no stranger to Washington politics. He rose to national prominence in late 2016 when Republicans in Congress blocked his nomination by then-President Barack Obama to a seat on the Supreme Court. Garland, a federal appellate judge, is once again in the limelight and on the verge of taking on a high-profile position, this time as attorney general – essentially the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Garland said he agreed to take the job of attorney general after being assured by both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris that the Justice Department would retain its independence from political interference. Biden said of his nominee in January, “Your loyalty is not to me,” and apparent dig at former President Donald Trump who demanded loyalty of his Cabinet members. “It’s to the law, to the Constitution, to the people of this nation,” Biden said. Judicial background Garland, 68, is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sometimes called the “second highest court in the land'' in part because of the frequency with which its judges ascend to the Supreme Court just a few blocks away. After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Garland clerked for two appointees of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower: the liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr. and Judge Henry J. Friendly, for whom Chief Justice John Roberts also clerked. Before becoming a judge himself, he was a prosecutor and supervised Justice Department investigations into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. His background made him popular even with Republicans when he was nominated to the D.C. Circuit by President Bill Clinton. Garland was confirmed to the post in 1997 by a vote of 76-23 with 32 Republicans voting in favor of his nomination. However, in 2016, when then-President Barack Obama nominated Garland to a vacant seat on ...
US Attorney General Nominee Merrick Garland Vows Full Probe of Storming of Capitol
WASHINGTON - U.S. Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland on Monday called the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump the “most heinous” attack on democracy and vowed to pursue investigative leads “wherever they take us.” “I never expected to see that in my lifetime,” the 68-year-old Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday at his confirmation hearing to become the country's top law enforcement official as head the Justice Department. “I can assure you this will be my main priority [and the subject of] my first briefing” if confirmed, said Garland, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division during the Clinton administration. More than 200 rioters, many of them with extremist, anti-government views, have already been arrested in the aftermath of the mayhem that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. The mob of Trump supporters bashed in windows ransacked congressional offices and scuffled with police as lawmakers were meeting to certify that Trump had lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden. Garland, now a federal appeals court judge in Washington, said that if confirmed to one of the most important positions in Biden’s Cabinet, he would “look more broadly” at the leaders of the insurrection, their ideological views and their funding. Garland said he would make sure that prosecutors and investigators have whatever resources they need to carry out the probe. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. Download File 360p | 8 MB 480p | 12 MB 540p | 14 MB 720p | 29 MB 1080p | 60 MB Original | 203 MB Embed Copy Download Audio After an at-times tumultuous period for the Justice Department during Trump’s four-year term in the White House, Garland vowed to keep political considerations out ...
