When President Biden tapped Merrick Garland to lead the Justice Department last year, he selected a cautious appeals court judge known as a political moderate<\/a> who could build consensus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Garland, a former federal prosecutor, would attempt to rebuild trust in the sprawling and powerful law enforcement agency after the tumultuous Trump presidency, his supporters said. He would try to convince the public and lawmakers that he was an apolitical attorney general, even as he tackled some of the nation\u2019s most contentious political issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But the FBI\u2019s highly unusual court-approved search Monday<\/a> of former president Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago Club put Garland square in the middle of a huge political firestorm. The search, part of a long-running probe into the possible mishandling<\/a> of presidential documents, drew praise from Democrats who have been hoping the Justice Department would seriously investigate Trump and the ire of conservatives who decried the search as an abuse of power<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Trump called the court-authorized search \u201cprosecutorial misconduct\u201d and the \u201cweaponization of the Justice System.\u201d Some of his supporters say the FBI\u2019s action could galvanize Trump\u2019s base if he runs for president in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Republican allies on Capitol Hill denounced Garland and pledged to turn the tables and investigate the Justice Department. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said the attorney general should resign or be impeached.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Merrick Garland\u2019s goal is to restore the integrity of the Justice Department. His legacy will still be defined by Trump.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The partisan outcry was the opposite of what Garland has sought in his 17 months on the job, during which he has launched multiple high-profile civil rights investigations<\/a> and efforts to fight gun trafficking and hate crimes, while also overseeing the sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the unprecedented efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Time and again, Garland has refused to discuss that probe or any other investigation in progress, whether or not it involves the former president. He has repeatedly pledged to follow the facts where they lead, and to hold anyone who breaks the law accountable, regardless of who that person may be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At news conferences, he dodges reporters\u2019 queries about Trump, which come up inevitably. Two of the four reporters permitted to ask questions at a news conference last week<\/a> on charges filed against police officers in connection with the killing of Breonna Taylor chose to ask about investigations into Trump. Both times, Garland declined to answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For months, Trump\u2019s critics \u2014 especially, but not limited to, the left \u2014 pummeled Garland for not moving quickly to investigate Trump on multiple fronts. In recent weeks and months, without fanfare, the Justice Department and U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Washington began obtaining communications from people in Trump\u2019s inner circle and subpoenaing witnesses to appear before a grand jury, clearly indicating that Trump\u2019s actions and conversations<\/a> had become part of the scope of the Jan. 6-related probe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou are undoubtedly going to have people saying that this is the ultimate political act,\u201d said Donald B. Ayer, a deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, said of the raid. \u201cBut that\u2019s just nonsense. … He has a job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Justice Department would not comment on whether Garland signed off on the FBI raid, and Garland has not discussed it. He made just one public comment on Monday, about the sentencing of three men<\/a> convicted on federal charges in connection with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man killed while jogging in his Georgia neighborhood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Justice Department\u2019s prosecution of this case and the court\u2019s sentences today make clear that hate crimes have no place in our country,\u201d Garland said in a statement. \u201cProtecting civil rights and combatting white supremacist violence was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and one that we will continue to pursue with the urgency it demands.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n