Garland:Resign if Asked to Act on Trump10/02 06:17

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an interview 
that aired Sunday that he would resign if asked by President Joe Biden to take 
action against Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. But he doesn't 
think he'll be put in that position.

   "I am sure that that will not happen, but I would not do anything in that 
regard," he said on CBS "60 Minutes." "And if necessary, I would resign. But 
there is no sense that anything like that will happen."

   The Justice Department is at the center of not only indictments against 
Trump that include an effort to overturn the 2020 election and wrongly keeping 
classified documents, but also cases involving Biden's son Hunter, the 
aftermath of the riot at the U.S. Capitol and investigations into classified 
documents found in the president's home and office. Garland has appointed three 
separate special counsels.

   Garland has spoken only sparingly about the cases and reiterated Sunday he 
would not get into specifics, but dismissed claims by Trump and his supporters 
that the cases were timed to ruin his chances to be president in 2024.

   "Well, that's absolutely not true. Justice Department prosecutors are 
nonpartisan. They don't allow partisan considerations to play any role in their 
determinations," Garland said.

   Garland said the president has never tried to meddle in the investigations, 
and he dismissed criticism from Republicans that he was going easy on the 
president's son, Hunter, who was recently indicted on a gun charge after a plea 
deal in his tax case fell apart. Hunter Biden is due in a Delaware court this 
week.

   "We do not have one rule for Republicans and another rule for Democrats. We 
don't have one rule for foes and another for friends," he said. "We have only 
one rule; and that one rule is that we follow the facts and the law, and we 
reach the decisions required by the Constitution, and we protect civil 
liberties."

   Garland choked up when talking about his concerns over violence, 
particularly as judges and prosecutors assigned to the Trump cases got death 
threats.

   "People can argue with each other as much as they want and as vociferously 
as they want. But the one thing they may not do is use violence and threats of 
violence to alter the outcome," he said. "American people must protect each 
other. They must ensure that they treat each other with civility and kindness, 
listen to opposing views, argue as vociferously as they want, but refrain from 
violence and threats of violence. That's the only way this democracy will 
survive."