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Justice Department Farewell Ceremony

Justice Department Farewell Ceremony

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Justice Department farewell ceremony. Read the transcript here.

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Lisa (00:00):

… and the support of our families. I know you all have sacrificed much these past four years, especially valued time together, so please know that we are all immensely grateful to you for all that you have done, for all that you have done to support the Attorney General and each other and this department over the past four years. Now, I've attended many an event in this great hall over the years and I couldn't be happier to see it so filled to the brim, literally standing room only in the back, and its fitting, as we gather to honor the Attorney General. So I'd now ask you to please rise for the presentation of the colors and for our national anthem performed by Raya Walker.

Raya Walker (02:00):

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through night that our flight was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Lisa (04:10):

Thank you to the Montgomery County Police Department and to Raya Walker for sharing her talents here on so many occasions with that beautiful rendition of the national anthem.

(04:22)
Please be seated. It's my privilege to be your emcee for today's events. And to begin our program, I think it's fitting to start with the leader of that part of the Justice Department whose work spans every part of our three-pronged mission to uphold the rule of law, keep this country safe, and to protect civil rights. Chris Wray has been a critical partner and leader in that mission every single day, serving as FBI director for the past more than seven years. And we had the chance to honor his service last week. We're grateful for his leadership at the FBI and for his presence today to say a few words. Please join me in welcoming the eighth director of the FBI, Chris Wray.

Chris Wray (05:21):

Well, thank you, Lisa. Afternoon everybody. I want to thank you, Attorney General, for inviting me to join you. I am honored to be here to celebrate not just your time in this job, but your decades of distinguished service to the American people.

(05:46)
Before I go any further, I want to take a moment to add my own acknowledgment and to thank your family. We all know all too well that it's their support that actually makes our work possible and I want to thank them for sharing you with us, with this country for so many years.

(06:05)
Throughout your career, you've been a faithful friend to the FBI, from your time as special assistant to Attorney General Civiletti, when you worked with him and then Director Webster on the AG guidelines that still govern our work today, to your years partnering with our agents on everything from drug trafficking cases to investigating and apprehending the Unabomber. And of course, of course in this role where, for the past four years, you have been a steadfast advocate for the men and women of the FBI.

(06:40)
You have pushed to make sure the FBI had everything it needed to accomplish our mission, whether that's critical funding or vital authorities like Section 702. You've strengthened our partnerships from top to bottom so we can better work together to keep our communities safe. And maybe most importantly, you've defended the FBI's workforce when our people have been threatened for simply doing their jobs, the right thing, the right way. Those are just a few examples of the countless ways you've made a real positive impact on the bureau. And that impact is going to be felt for years and years to come.

(07:27)
With a long, illustrious career like yours, nobody would've held it against you if you had said four years ago, "No, thank you very much." That you were very happy serving as a judge or maybe even that you were ready for something a little slower, a little easier, but that's just not who you are because you have spent your life taking on the hard jobs, jobs that needed someone with your talents and your leadership. So it's only fitting that you would continue to demonstrate your commitment to service over self and taking on this role.

(08:06)
But as I said, and many here in the Great Hall know you've been living that commitment for more than 30 years now. You could go all the way back to 1995, when you were on the ground within 48 hours of the horrific bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. And there, as maybe some in the Great Hall do not know, you represented the United States in the perpetrator's very first hearing, which you made sure was open, transparent, and fair because that's how our justice system should work.

(08:41)
Something else folks here this afternoon may not know, you didn't just leave when that hearing was over. You stuck around, remaining on the ground with the FBI for more than two months. You were there in the hotel, staying up all night with our investigators as the leads poured in. You helped our folks follow the facts and ultimately you helped provide justice for the victims and their families, all this while you were in the midst of serving in one of DOJ's hardest jobs, serving as the [inaudible 00:09:17], which, as you and I both know, as does the Deputy Attorney General, is where all roads lead in the department.

(09:27)
And for the last four years, we've seen you honorably lead the Department of Justice as we have confronted an unprecedented array of threats. And whether it was in your response to the Oklahoma City bombing or during your tenure on the federal bench or your time overseeing the FBI and the rest of DOJ, your leadership and your values have never wavered. You've never strayed from calling balls and strikes. You've shown your dedication to public service and to ensuring equal justice under the law. You've shown us all that you're ambitious for the organizations you lead and are part of rather than for yourself. And we've seen you combine personal humility with professional will, the epitome of what it means to be a servant leader.

(10:24)
Now, that's a term we hear thrown around pretty often as what we should all aspire to be. But with you, we've gotten to witness servant leadership in action. I've seen it in the way you treat your staff and the briefers every day in our morning meetings, where everyone present witnesses up close how much you know and care about the people around you. I've seen it in the way you connect with our people, our workforce, and our partners all across the country.

(10:57)
You've even taken the servant leadership concept to a very literal, practical level, personally scooping ice cream for the entire department in the July DC heat. And I know that that is something that our folks across the street in the Hoover building are going to miss terribly because nothing more predictably draws a law enforcement audience than free food.

(11:22)
Over the course of my tenure as FBI director, I've talked a lot about the four pillars of our FBI strategy, people, partnerships, process, and innovation. And I know my folks are getting tired of hearing those by now, but I absolutely feel like I want to mention them here because you've embodied our four pillars, somebody who takes care of his people, somebody who has been a true partner to the bureau, someone who's shown a commitment to the process of following the facts and the law, and someone who has innovated to help the department adapt to threats that are constantly evolving and becoming more complex every single day. Please know that I have always admired how you've gone about your work and I've always felt privileged when our paths have crossed.

(12:22)
Before I close, I've just got one slightly personal story I'd like to share, and it goes back to when you were relatively new in this role. You were kind enough to take some time to speak to all our SACs, all of our special agents in charge of our field offices. And you told our group that you had grown up watching the popular TV series about the FBI starring Ephraim Zimbalist Jr. And you told our agents in the room that you were jealous because they were living your dream, following in the footsteps of Zimbalist's courageous Inspector Erskine character.

(13:01)
Now, as you know, we're always looking for great talent and if you are not interested in really retiring, we are hiring. In fact, there's a new agent class reporting to Quantico in just 10 days, that'll give you just a slight break. But for now, I will say this, we at the FBI are incredibly glad that you took the path you did and all along that path you've shown the fidelity, bravery, and integrity of Inspector Erskine. And simply put, there's not a doubt in my mind the American people are safer and better because of your time in public service.

(13:42)
Last September, you addressed the entire Justice Department and told us something that you said we don't hear enough. You thanked all of us for all we do to uphold one rule of law for all Americans. And today, I'm honored to say the same thing to you. And on behalf of the 38,000 men and women of the FBI all across the country and around the world, your extended FBI family, thank you for a job well done.

(14:14)
And it is now my privilege to present to you, in many ways the highest honor we can bestow on somebody, the ultimate demonstration of the FBI's respect and admiration for a leader and a partner and something that I think you're going to particularly appreciate, given that childhood dream of yours. So on behalf of the 38,000 men women of the FBI, I want to present to you your very own Tommy Gun.

Speaker 1 (14:59):

Just want to be sure this is legal. Where's the ATF director?

Lisa (15:10):

Thank you very much, Director Wray. It's now my pleasure to introduce someone who has served alongside me and the Attorney General and the department's leadership team for the last four years. Put simply, Elizabeth Prelogar has been a magnificent solicitor general. She's a skilled advocate, not just for the department but for the entire US government, and we've been lucky to have her in our corner. Now, Elizabeth, you don't have an audience of nine justices today, just one former judge, so this should be really easy for you. Please welcome Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.

Elizabeth Prelogar (15:48):

Thank you, Lisa, for that introduction. It is such an honor to have the opportunity today to offer some reflections on what the Attorney General's service over the last four years have meant to me personally and what it's meant to this department and to our nation. The only problem is I don't know how I'm going to fit all of my thoughts into seven minutes, but luckily I'm a fast talker and there's no red light at this podium to cut me off mid-sentence.

(16:28)
In some ways, my remarks today have been almost two decades in the making. My very first job fresh out of law school was as a clerk for then-Judge Garland on the DC circuit. As a brand new lawyer, it felt like winning the lottery to have the chance to work closely with and learn from the judge. I could spend two weeks studying a case and reading all of the precedent and turning over the issues in my mind and writing a memo.But it would take the judge only about two hours to look over the materials before he would walk into my office and start asking me the questions that cut to the heart of the matter.

(17:05)
I got all of my early oral argument training in that clerkship, answering the judge's questions. And let me tell you, it was always a hot bench. That was kind of terrifying, sure. But it was also exhilarating.

(17:20)
During the clerkship, the judge modeled incisiveness precision, work ethic, and above all, integrity. He and his wonderful wife nurtured a clerk family. And he provided invaluable mentorship to me during that year and pretty much every year since. But perhaps his greatest gift was instilling in us clerks a reverence for public service. For the judge, there was no higher calling.

(17:48)
And I have the judge thank for my own path to the Department of Justice. When a line attorney position opened up in the office of the Solicitor General, he encouraged me to throw my hat in the ring. I'd recently had my second child, so the timing wasn't perfect. And I remember asking the judge, "Hey, maybe I should wait." He told me he'd once been in a somewhat similar situation. In 1979, he had an offer to join the Department of Justice as a special assistant to the then Attorney General. And he thought about waiting until President Carter's second term to come to government. Luckily, he didn't delay his start date.

(18:25)
His advice to strike when the iron's hot was prescient. I ended up getting that spot in OSG and as it turned out, another position didn't open for years. And because I had that OSG experience, I was able to follow the Attorney General when he returned to the department in 2021.

(18:43)
I've always thought of that story as capturing the constellation of contingencies that put someone in the right place at the right time. And I'm particularly grateful that the stars aligned for the Attorney General to be here at the department over the last four years. 85 years ago, Attorney General and Future Supreme Court Justice and former Solicitor General Robert Jackson stood on this stage. He spoke of the rule of law and urged a rededication to the spirit of fair play and decency that should animate the federal prosecutor. A good prosecutor, he proposed, was one who, "Tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility." If Attorney General Jackson were here with us today, I think he would agree that Merrick Garland has been the quintessential good prosecutor.

(19:45)
During his tenure, the Attorney General has worked tirelessly to support and safeguard this institution and its norms. He has fiercely shielded his workforce from unprecedented threats. He has strived to tamp down tensions. And he has made clear in everything he's done over the past four years that we will and we must uphold and work to defend the rule of law.

(20:11)
We've all heard the AG speak of the importance of following the facts and the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties. He said it many times. There is not one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless. But what the American public doesn't see behind the scenes is that the AG embodies these principles fully. He believes in them fervently with every fiber of his being, and they guide his every decision in this position. He always, always seeks to reach the right answer for the right reason, and that is no small thing. As

Elizabeth Prelogar (21:00):

As we've searched for those right answers over the past four years, the Attorney General's brilliance, judgment, and insights have been an invaluable resource for me and my office. There's really no one I'd rather talk law with more. Truly these days, I welcome the grilling and the AG has always been generous in giving it, unfailingly offering his time as a sounding board in challenging cases. I'll never forget a moment last term when the AG and I were discussing Loper Bright, a case that raised the question whether the Chevron deference doctrine should be overruled. Based on his experience on the DC Circuit, the AG had thought deeply about how courts should approach the task of interpreting ambiguous statutes.

(21:41)
During our discussion, the AG mentioned a particular law review article that he thought I should look at, so I wrote down the name and I told him that I would read it. I then left his office and I walked back to my office, which is not a very long walk, it's just down the hall, and it wasn't more than a few minutes after I got back to my office that the AG was calling me. He had pulled the article he said, he had already reviewed it and he had just a few more thoughts about it and the issues that we'd been discussing. So this moment raised many questions for me. First and most pressing, does the AG have a Westlaw password?

(22:22)
If so, who gave it to him and why? AG is a very busy person and he shouldn't be doing Westlaw research no matter how much he might enjoy it. Second, how has the AG managed to pull and review that article in the time it took me to walk back to my office? Is he truly superhuman? But that moment perfectly encapsulates who the AG is and what kind of department he runs. He loves the law and he's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and dig in. And then there's his record in the Supreme Court. By my count, the AG has personally asked the Supreme Court for relief three times during his tenure. He moved to have Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's commission read by the clerk at her investiture ceremony, and he moved the admission of resolutions to honor Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Memorial Sittings of the court.

(23:17)
The court granted the Attorney General's motion each and every time. He's batting a thousand. My record as Solicitor General is not quite that good, but the Attorney General has always been one of the first people to call or stop by after a tough argument or decision day at the court. He processes what happened. He commends a job well done and he shows that he cares about our work of course, but also about how we're doing during a hard moment. Among so many other assets, the AG has his finger on the pulse of this department. In less than four years, he's traveled to US attorney's offices in all 50 states, and I saw the impact of those visits firsthand when I joined his stop in my hometown of Boise, Idaho. His candid concern and his commitment to cooperating with local law enforcement strengthened our partnerships across the country. And then there was the community that he's created inside this building.

(24:19)
It's similarly special. Whether he's taking the youngest lawyers at DOJ out to eat in the DOJ cafeteria… He loves the cafeteria. Or as director Ray noted, whether he's scooping ice cream for hundreds of staff, the Attorney General has shown through his actions that no act of kindness is too small. Many of our families will not forget how he sat for hours during Halloween talking to our children and patiently posing for photographs with them. I kind of thought of him as like a DOJ Santa, but in everything he's done, the AG has modeled that we're at our best as public servants, as a workforce, as an institution when we take care of each other and pay it forward. Mr. Attorney General, Judge, it has been more than an immense privilege to watch you, to work with you, and to learn from you day in and day out over the last four years. It has been the honor of my lifetime. Above all else, thank you for teaching us how to be good, how to do right. We and our nation could ask for nothing better.

Lisa (25:48):

Thank you so much, Elizabeth. I'm now pleased to introduce and welcome back to the department our next speaker. Now I say welcome back, but I've been seeing her in these halls as much the last few weeks as when she worked here because she's been on a speaking circuit of sorts in what I affectionately call Farewell Palooza. So clearly though she saved her best for last, Vanita Gupta was a fantastic leader for this department and a treasured colleague and friend. Please welcome to the podium former Associate Attorney General, Vanita Gupta.

Vanita Gupta (26:35):

Good afternoon everyone. It is so good to be here among so many friends and former colleagues to honor the extraordinary leader of this department, Attorney General Merrick Garland. Mr. Attorney General, I know I speak for all of us when I say from the bottom of my heart thank you. Thank you for your leadership and tireless work to make real the highest promises of this department, the only federal agency that bears the name of a value. Thank you for your commitment from day one to fighting for equal justice, protecting everyone in this country from harm and violence, and defending the rule of law and our democracy. I know I also speak for all of us when I say thank you to your family for their service over the last four years. This department and our country owe them so much.

(27:34)
I want to talk this afternoon about the Attorney General I know who I got to work closely with every day. Almost exactly one year ago, I stood with Attorney General Garland in a room much, much smaller than this one in a community that had been devastated by unimaginable tragedy. We were in Uvalde, Texas to announce the findings of the Justice Department's 600-page critical incident review. The report documented the enormous failures to protect children and their teachers during and after the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24th, 2022. Before we shared it with the public, we wanted to share the report with the families of the 19 beloved children and two cherished teachers who were killed and the survivors who had been through so much. So the night before the press conference, we set up a private meeting with the families. There was no press. It wasn't meant for the public.

(28:36)
The meeting was going to be difficult and was likely to run long. The Attorney General already had a lot on his plate, so I recommended that he join us at the top of the meeting and then leave. It was more than enough for him to be there and meet with the families to show that this was a priority for the department. There were going to be difficult questions without easy answers, and he did not have to be there while we grappled with them. The Attorney General came to the meeting. He met with the families. He spoke eloquently and emotionally at the top and then he stayed. He stayed and listened for hours as family members expressed their gratitude and their rightful pain and anger. He sometimes sat and listened as I took questions. He didn't feel the need to be at the center of it, but he spoke too often when things got really hard. He heard the pain of those family members and he spoke authentically in response. It's hard to explain what it meant to the Uvalde families in the room that night to have the nation's chief law enforcement officer spend hours with them, listening to them and validating their experiences after months of feeling discounted and dismissed. That is the Merrick Garland I know, an Attorney General who doesn't just show up for the press and the spotlight, but who stays for the hard stuff, who cares first and foremost about real people in real communities across this country and who does the right thing regardless of how hard it might be. I saw his commitment to people in communities every day.

(30:18)
Every morning at 9:00 AM, rain, shine, snow, Covid surge, or otherwise, the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, heads of OPA and OLA and I would meet in the Attorney General's conference room to discuss the most pressing matters of the day, imminent court filings, new lawsuits, or the latest congressional inquiries. Now, I've always been a morning person, but preparing for the daily oral argument before the AG was next level. And just by the way, while I was procrastinating as I was writing these remarks, I typed "Merrick Garland" and "Department of Justice" into a search engine that for the sake of all the anti-trusters in this room shall remain nameless and under the section people also ask was the question, "Is Merrick Garland a lawyer?"

(31:10)
I have to say that the folks asking that question have literally no idea about the daily 9:00 AM meeting. The reality is that you cannot outlaw this lawman. He knows all the cases and every subsection of every statute. In time, I learned to anticipate his many and probing questions about which arguments we were making or how we were planning to defend whatever lawsuit was on the front page that day. One time I was gleeful that I caught something in a footnote that he had missed, but it only happened once. In addition to reading through cases and briefing materials, I read through the news clips that landed in our inboxes every day at 6:30 in the morning. So did he. Now, when I say he read the news clips, I mean he read every single story. Lisa and I would often look at each other across the table and wonder, "Why on earth did the clipping service pull a bunch of hyperlocal stories from stations like WXYZ Channel fou4 and WKLM 89.9?"

(32:17)
But inevitably, the AG's eyes would be drawn to exactly one of those stories. And so many mornings he would point to a lawsuit or a problem a community was facing and ask, "Why aren't we doing something about this?" Or "Why is it taking so long?" The Attorney General understood at a fundamental level that it mattered to people in small towns and big cities across the country to have DOJ engaged, whether it was a criminal investigation or prosecution, a civil rights concern, lack of access to reproductive healthcare or unsafe drinking water. That's why he traveled the country, visiting US attorneys' offices, working to strengthen federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships and listening to community stakeholders. He would return here saying, "We won't always be able to do what people want, but we will work as hard as possible to do the right thing."

(33:11)
The Attorney General didn't have to come back to the department a fifth time. He had already had an illustrious career in public service, lifetime tenure as a highly distinguished federal judge. He came back amid unprecedented challenges, Covid, a breakdown of trust between law enforcement and communities, a spike in violent crime, hate crimes, and white supremacist violence, January 6th, and threats against public officials and law enforcement. Over the last four years, I have seen that he came back to this department for the same reason he stayed at that meeting at Uvalde, because he cares personally and deeply about the people that Justice Department serves and about its mission. He reminded us repeatedly that the department was founded in 1870 with the first mission to protect the rights of African-Americans under the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments against the violence of the Ku Klux Klan. It was founded to do the right but hard thing and that too was our charge. He worked every day to reaffirm and restore the norms that have long guided this department and the morale of the career professionals who are its backbone.

(34:23)
He made clear that politics have no place here and that this department's work would be conducted without fear or favor. People have a lot of opinions about the department's work, some informed, some not, none with complete information. The Attorney General never let the outside noise detract from the mission. When that noise got the loudest, he took the arrows for the people who work here. When faced with threats and baseless accusations, he defended the DOJ workforce and law enforcement. When things were most difficult, he reminded us of the stakes of our work and the importance and value of doing the right thing in everything we do. He knows that at DOJ, the work of pushing America to live up to its ideals is never defined by one chapter in our history, but by our insistence, all of us, that this amazing institution keep driving toward what's right even against all odds and pressures to do otherwise.

(35:26)
He knows from his life of public service that progress is not linear and it is not inevitable. It comes from people staying hopeful, refusing to give up, and doing the work to bring our nation ever closer to its founding ideals embodied in the Constitution. So let me end where I started. Thank you, Mr. Attorney General. Thank you for believing in this department, the people who work here, and its mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and protect civil rights. Thank you for always leading by example with character, integrity, and decency. And thank you above all for demonstrating to all of us what it means to dedicate your heart and soul and service to this country.

Kart Watkins (37:11):

Thank you, Attorney General Garland, for staying with us in our day of darkness and our years of light. On behalf of the family members, survivors, first responders, staff, and trustees of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, we honor you today for a lifetime of service to our country. Oklahoma has been blessed by your impeccable and incredible work and your generous and caring spirit over the past 30 years. Thank you for being our light.

Matthew G. Olsen (37:36):

Attorney General Garland, on behalf of the National Security Division, thank you for your commitment to keeping Americans safe and to protecting our country. Under your leadership, we have pursued justice in service of our national security while adhering to the rule of law and the founding values that define our nation. I am so grateful for your guidance and your support as we have strived to serve the American people, honor our nation, and live up to the highest traditions of the Department of Justice.

Kristen Clarke (38:07):

Thank you, Attorney General Garland, for always reminding us and the public about the founding origins of the department, that we were founded for the principal purpose of taking on the KKK and those using violence to deny people's access to civil rights. That reminder about our values and principles has helped to ensure that we operate with the requisite level of urgency, with tremendous integrity, and we've done our very best work as a result on your watch.

Anne Milgram (38:42):

Attorney General Garland, on behalf of the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Administration, I want to personally thank you for your leadership and for your partnership over the last three and a half years. Your dedication to justice, your unwavering support of the DEA, and your commitment to combating the Fentanyl crisis has helped us to protect our communities and to save American lives. It has been an absolute honor to work for you, boss. Your intelligence and thoughtfulness are second only to your kindness and your big heart.

Benjain C. Mizer (39:18):

Thank you, Attorney General Garland, for forcing me against my will to come back to the Department of Justice. As much as I miss OPM, I am eternally glad that I listened to you because if nothing else, it's meant I've gotten to work so closely with you over the past two years. It has been an honor and a highlight of my career. Thank you for your principled and steadfast leadership, for your devotion to the department and for your good humor. My 9:00 AM hour every week day is going to be a lot less fulfilling and a lot less exciting from here on out. I will miss it and I will miss you. Thank you.

Steven Dettelbach (40:00):

Attorney General Garland, thank you on behalf of all of ATF for your support and your leadership. Because of that leadership, because of the brave work of the men and women of ATF and all of our partners, we've been able to push down violent crime and firearms violence in the United States. And that's not just numbers. Your compassion, your constant efforts and attention shone through every time you speak about it. It's real families. You say that, you know that, you make people understand that. Thanks.

Vincent Talucci (40:31):

Thank you, Attorney General Garland, for your partnership, for your professionalism, for your empathy, and for your unyielding support of the policing profession. On behalf of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, thank you for your service and sacrifice and also thank you for sharing that early adopter Bruce Springsteen story with me. That was pretty cool.

Colette S. Peters (40:51):

Thank you, Attorney General Garland, for your endless support of our mission-critical work and for emboldening us to evolve our culture with compassion, humanity, and normalcy. Thank you too for consistent gratitude for the sacrifices bureau employees and their families make to carry out hero's work. So thank you to you and your family for their lifetime of sacrifices as you nobly served our great nation. We'll be forever indebted for your leadership, commitment, and support. And what an honor of a lifetime to serve under your leadership. I wish you the best as you embark on this next chapter.

Jim Pasco (41:31):

Hi, General. Thanks very much for your dignity in an increasingly undignified town, your leadership of one of the great management teams in the history of DOJ, Lisa Monaco, Vanita Gupta, and of course, Matt Clapper as the beaver. And for your unflagging concern for the mental and physical well-being of law enforcement officers

Jim Pasco (42:00):

Officers at every level. Officer Wallace has become a top priority and you have embraced it and made it successful. Your courtesy and kindness to all of us, which even me, which in my case probably is a little difficult for you, but you toughed it up. You're absolutely religious adherence to the rule of law so important to all of us.

(42:32)
Finally, thanks very much for your 30 plus years of friendship and for usually laughing at my jokes. Pasco out.

Jonathan Kanter (42:42):

Thank you Attorney General Garland for your commitment to reinvigorating antitrust enforcement. During your confirmation hearing, you declared that antitrust was your first love. Well, I'm here to declare that antitrust loves you back.

Ronald Davis (42:57):

Thank you Attorney General Garland for your steadfast leadership of DOJ and for your unwavering support of the United States Marshals Service. You have been a strong leader and ally to the marshals, especially during times of extreme challenges and in face of unimaginable tragedy. For that, we are extremely grateful to you and the outstanding men and women you have led at DOJ. Congratulations on a job well done and best wishes on your next chapter.

Maya Wiley (43:22):

General Garland, it has been a great honor and privilege to be able to call you general. After the Dobbs decision, you responded, determined to protect our rights. When we had the incredible devastation of the Buffalo Massacre, you responded when. We had the midterms and even this last election and asked for the protection of the department and ensuring people had the right to vote, you responded, but in every single instance and in every single one I don't have the time to mention, you always showed up not just as calm, not just as a clear leader, but as a person, as a public servant who understood the central importance of integrity and that there is no integrity that actually serves people without compassion.

(44:25)
And you, my dear general, are full of compassion and we needed that so much. We still do. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you.

Kelly Weeks (44:36):

I want to thank the attorney general for his kindness and support in 2024. The loss of Tommy on April 29th is something that I will never forget, but I will also never forget the phone call the day after Tommy died and the amazing speech that was given at Tommy's service. That empathy and that compassion is something that shows the character of a human being regardless of their political affiliation. So thank you, Mr. Garland, for all of your support and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Damon Hewitt (45:08):

Thank you Attorney General Garland for prioritizing civil rights from day one. You've reminded the entire nation that the Department of Justice was founded to protect civil rights, through your actions, through your words, through your human touch, you made that promise of civil rights, and frankly, the promise of democracy real for so many people throughout this country. We appreciate you and we'll miss you. Thanks for everything.

Koutoujian (45:33):

Mr. attorney General, thank you for not only ably leading this agency during a historic tenure but also for the manner with which you did it. You dispensed justice, kindness and wisdom in equal measure. You approached your work with an uncommon intellect and yet a common sense of humanity. Attributes that I saw on display every time I saw you at the Department of Justice, including when you made my son feel like a dignitary when he visited with you one time.

(46:04)
Your graciousness extended throughout your whole staff. The most competent, kind and accessible staffs that I've ever encountered anywhere. Public servants of the highest order. Thank you so much for your decency, your commitment, your service, and your humanity.

Speaker 2 (46:23):

Thank you Judge Garland.

Speaker 3 (46:26):

I wanted to say thank you because you've been with me since second grade until now and you got to watch me grow up and I got to see you go from being a judge to being an attorney general.

Speaker 4 (46:37):

And I want to thank you and I appreciate you for all the time and sacrifice that you've shown to my children, inviting us into the Justice Department and just continue to be in their lives. We truly appreciate you and good luck on your next step and whatever your endeavors are.

Speaker 5 (47:06):

I want to say a big thank you to the multimedia team for putting together that terrific video. It's now my pleasure to welcome assistant attorney general for administration, Jolene Lauria, for a presentation to the attorney general.

Jolene Lauria (47:45):

Good afternoon. Today I want to take a moment also to express my deepest gratitude to the attorney general. Your unwavering commitment to the rule of law, justice and the American people has been inspiring and something that I will always hold in my heart for many years.

(48:03)
More personally, from my perspective and I'm sure from the sentiments that are shared among many, I want to thank you for the kindness and respect that you have given to all of us on the JMD team as we persevered through, at times, crushing workloads and endless, endless deadlines.

(48:24)
During your time in office, it was inspiring to me to see how much you cared about the actual work, work products of the Justice Department. Beyond the speeches and protocol meetings that are seen in the public, your commitment to the actual work and the time invested in your reviews at a level of detail I don't think I have ever experienced was astounding, inspiring, admittedly exhausting, but critically important to those of us who develop the work.

(48:56)
Your personal touches to our documents and investments in your time is meaningful and impactful. Nothing is more inspiring than to people in the Justice Department that their work matters and it made a difference. We have all learned from you.

(49:14)
And I know deep in your heart, you will miss all of the budget and audit prep that we provided to you. The review materials we developed together with a lot of advice and guidance from Christine, and I see Maggie sitting over there in the audience, will be, dare I say, fond memories. Maybe that's a stretch. I don't know.

(49:36)
I'm sure you will catch a glimpse of C-SPAN and someone testifying on the budget and think back to all those numbers that you professed your love for. I want you to know as you depart that deep in the halls of justice residing in our internal files on the budget staff are a new series of budget charts that we affectionately call the Merrick Garland Budget Charts. This is a big deal. We have Monster Charts. I won't tell you who they're named after. We have Dana Charts, a former OMB CFO, countless of other technical charts in terms that baffle the mind, but as CFO of the department to rise to the level of a personally named budget chart is the highest honor in the budget findings world.

(50:23)
The AG Garland Charts are in the history books for us. It's truly been a privilege to contribute to your legacy at the Department of Justice. That said, I did not dare to bring my budget binders on stage, although it was part of the special presentation. Christine is still reviewing them. I have them here and they'll be on your chair in the morning, but in all seriousness, I do have two gifts from your entire leadership team that are a time-honored tradition during the farewell ceremony of the attorney general. The first is presenting to you a shadow box that includes the badges worn by our law enforcement officers in the Department of Justice. I know you will look at this with pride and solemn remembrance of the daily selfless duty they bear in pursuit of justice as they risk their lives to enforce the law and make communities safer.

(51:24)
The DOJ law enforcement bureaus represented in the shadow box include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Interpol Washington, the Justice Management Division, Security and Emergency Planning staff, the Office of Inspector General and the US Marshal Service.

(51:54)
On behalf of the entire department, we humbly present this to you from the department's law enforcement warriors.

(52:08)
The second tradition. When the attorney general steps down from his position, my staff and your entire leadership team come together to obtain and present to you the actual cabinet chair in which you sat during the cabinet meetings at the White House. Attorney General Garland, may you please stand and move forward just a tiny bit?

(52:30)
Yes. Okay. On behalf of your leadership team here at the Justice Department, I'm honored to present to you your cabinet chair. Attorney General Garland, may you please, when that's in place, sit down so we can acknowledge what you have given to us and sacrificed for us as you sat in that chair.

(52:54)
Wait. Hopefully it's the chair. As you sat in that chair with the president and his cabinet. You were out of our sight, but always in our hearts and in our minds. Thank you.

Lisa (53:24):

I'd like that heightened chair. Hold on. Thank you so much, Jolene. Now before I introduce the man of the hour, it's time for me to add some of my own reflections. And I think it's time to start with a little myth-busting.

(53:44)
Don't worry. By now we know the arc of his career. Brilliant young lawyer, advisor to Ben Civiletti, assistant US attorney, criminal division leader, PADAG, overseeing the Oklahoma City bombing case, and a brilliant jurist on the DC Circuit. And an attorney general with a tendency to choke up when speaking about his reverence for this place and its people.

(54:15)
Now all that seriousness of purpose obscures the lighter side. The man who revels in the truly awful pun who thinks he has musical talents. Talents that amount to banging on a cowbell, devoid of rhythm, I might add, in support of the criminal division's cover band. The man who's an unabashed swifty with the friendship bracelets to prove it and who I have witnessed being positively giddy in the presence of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

(55:02)
Now I share these insights not to expose some insider secrets in the waning days of an otherwise very buttoned-up tenure, but to fill out the picture of the man who has led this department for the past four years.

(55:22)
Now nearly every morning, as Benita mentioned, for those past four years. We've convened to discuss the work of this department. And we've done so under the watchful gaze of prior attorneys general. And no, this is not a new surveillance program.

(55:41)
Now those among you who are veterans of the Justice Department know the tradition. The attorney general chooses which portraits of past AGs will hang in the current AGs conference room. In my experience, those choices say a lot about an attorney general.

(56:02)
In characteristic fashion, the four portraits hanging upstairs today reflect choices that are deliberate, thoughtful, and rooted in the principles that guide this Justice Department, and they tell you a lot about this attorney general. Robert Jackson, Supreme Court Justice, Nuremberg Prosecutor and attorney general who literally wrote the book on being a federal prosecutor as Elizabeth mentioned.

(56:34)
Robert Kennedy, this building's namesake and champion for civil rights. Elliot Richardson, who stood up to immense pressure to uphold the rule of law at a time of testing for this building and its values.

(56:51)
The fourth portrait that hangs in the northwest corner of the room nearest the attorney general's own office is that of Edward Levy. Another brilliant lawyer from Chicago called to public service in the wake of Watergate, when the norms and traditions of this place and the rule of law itself was strained to the point of breaking.

(57:19)
Now as most here know, Levy went on to put in place the norms that form our North Star. Little did he know then that the department would once again need a deep-thinking, detail-oriented Chicagoan to quote Levy, "To enforce the law at a time when the very nature of law and its enforcement have been called into question."

(57:47)
Now the attorney general and I both invoked Ed Levy when we were nominated four years ago, and it's no surprise that we reached for that touchstone because we both basically grew up in the department, albeit a few years apart.

(58:04)
We both served as young counsels to the attorney general. He for Benjamin Civiletti, me for Janet Reno. We both went on to be AUSAs here in DC. A job we both describe as the best there is because the job description is to do the right thing. We both served as PADAG. The hardest job in the department.

(58:27)
And in fact, when I became PADAG in 2010, the first person I sought out for advice was then Judge Garland. He may not remember this, but I will never forget that lunch in the judge's dining room at court. I was lamenting that DOJ was coming under fire from all sides for something, and he leaned back and he calmly and wisely said, "Everyone feels that way when you're in it, but it's not that big a deal and it's never actually as bad as it feels when you're getting criticized in the moment." Mr. Attorney General, would you care to revise those remarks?

(59:16)
Now I first learned what it means to be a lawyer in public service in this department, and for the past four years I've had a front row seat to a master class from this attorney general. From this seat, I've seen an attorney general who set a clear mission from day one. To uphold the rule of law, keep the country safe, and protect civil rights.

(59:43)
Who starts and ends every day making sure we're asking the right questions. What's the law? What's the right thing to do? And what's right for the department and its people? I've seen an attorney general who loves nothing more than digging into a case briefing with agents and prosecutors and who has focused this institution on standing up for those agents and prosecutors who have come under threat simply for doing their job.

(01:00:15)
I've seen an attorney general who made sure this department was once again pursuing justice for victims of war crimes, not just as a prosecutor but as someone who feels a profound responsibility to give back to this country. And I've seen an attorney general who made clear from the very first days of his tenure that this Justice Department would pursue accountability for those who attacked our democracy no matter where or to whom that investigation led. And I've seen an attorney general who has grieved too often with the families of the fallen. Now the attorney general and I both worked at different times for Janet Reno, and she also hung Ed Levy's portrait in her conference room. She did so, I believe, to remind us that we are all custodians of this place for however long we have the privilege to serve.

(01:01:23)
Merrick, you reminded us four years ago the department's founding task from then President Grant in the shadow of reconstruction was to hold accountable those who sought to undermine our democracy. You reminded us then that every generation has a responsibility to reaffirm our commitment to the norms that guide this place. You pledged to do so and you did.

(01:01:52)
If history is a guide, this department will face tests in the future. Thanks to your service and your stewardship. The career men and women of this great institution who are its beating heart will carry forward the principles this department stands for and will continue to do even-handed justice.

(01:02:17)
Mr. Attorney General, I speak for all of us when I say it's been an absolute honor to serve alongside you. And with that it is my honor to introduce the 86th attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garland.

Attorney General Merrick Garland (01:03:16):

Thank you, Lisa. There is no one I would rather have worked with day in and day out to lead this Department. The American people could not have asked for a better Deputy Attorney General to serve our country at this important time. Thank you, Elizabeth, Chris, Jolene, Vanita, for your kind words and for your extraordinary service to the Department and the American people. To my family, you well know I would not be here today without your support. Four years ago, when I returned to the Justice Department for the fifth time, I told you that it felt like I was coming home. And I meant it. I had first set foot in this Department more than four decades before. The grandson of immigrants looking for work that would give me the chance to pay this country back for protecting them. And I found it. I found it in the company of dedicated men and women who start every day committed to doing nothing more or less than what is right, not what is politically expedient, not what is easiest or most comfortable, but what is right.

(01:04:43)
After that first tour, my career took a few detours, but I had the great good fortune to return to this Department again and again and again. I had the opportunity to see it at every level as a young special assistant, as an Assistant US Attorney, as a supervisor in the Criminal Division, and as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. So when I came back to the Department as Attorney General four years ago, I really did not think it possible that my respect and admiration for the people who work here could be any greater, but it is. I am simply in awe of what the public servants of this Department across the country and around the world have done over the past four years to fulfill our mission, to keep our country safe, protect civil rights, and to uphold the rule of law.

(01:05:41)
I am grateful beyond words to each of you, so I will just say thank you. Thank you for the communities you have made safer, the threats you have disrupted, the people whose civil rights you have defended, the consumers and workers you have protected. Thank you for the way you have done that work, with integrity, skill, and compassion. And thank you for ensuring the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law in everything you do.

(01:06:15)
Each of us who comes to work at this Department begins our period of service with an oath. It is an oath that I have taken many times in my career, and an oath that I have administered to others many more times. We swear that we will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and that we will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. But bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution is not the end of our obligation. It is just the beginning. It is just the beginning because as Attorney General Robert Jackson warned in this very hall 85 years ago, the same powers that enable the federal prosecutor to pursue justice also create the potential for grave injustice.

(01:07:12)
Although our Constitution and laws include important constraints on law enforcement, they nonetheless grant law enforcement considerable discretion to determine when, whom, how, and even whether to investigate or prosecute for apparent violations of federal criminal law. To ensure fairness in the administration of justice, we must temper this grant of discretion with a set of principles and ensure we exercise our authority in a just fashion. We must understand that there is a difference between what we can do and what we should do. That is where our norms come in.

(01:07:58)
Developed in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and formalized over almost half a century, those norms are our commitment to constrain our own discretion so that our agents will begin investigations only when there is proper predication and so that our prosecutors will bring charges only when we conclude that a jury will convict beyond a reasonable doubt and that the conviction will be upheld on appeal. In short, that we will make our law enforcement decisions based only on the facts and the law. Our norms are a promise to treat like cases alike, that we will not have one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for friends and another for foes. They are a promise to ensure respect for the integrity of our career agents, lawyers, and staff who are the institutional backbone and the historical memory of this Department. They are a promise to ensure protections for journalists and law enforcement agencies because a free press is essential to our democracy.

(01:09:14)
Those norms include our commitment to guaranteeing the independence of the Justice Department from both the White House and the Congress concerning law enforcement investigations and prosecutions. We make that commitment not because independence is necessarily constitutionally required, but because it is the only way to ensure that our law enforcement decisions are free from partisan influence. We know that only an independent Justice Department can protect the safety and civil rights of everyone in our country. And we know that only an independent Justice Department can ensure that the facts and the law alone will determine whether a person is investigated or prosecuted. Those norms have been woven into the DNA of generations of DOJ employees, career and non-career alike. They are the commitments that ensure we will adhere not only to the letter of the law, but to the rule of law. It is the obligation of each of us to follow our norms, not only when it is easy, but also when it is hard, especially when it is hard.

(01:10:45)
It is the obligation of each of us to adhere to our norms even when and especially when the circumstances we face are not normal. And it is the obligation of the Attorney General to insist on those norms as the principles upon which this Department operates. It is the obligation of the Attorney General to make clear that the only way for the Justice Department to do the right thing is to do it the right way. That unjust means cannot achieve just ends. The Attorney General must ensure that this Department seeks justice only with justice. And critically, it is the obligation of the Attorney General to understand that the Attorney General is only a temporary steward of this Department and that its heart and soul is its career workforce. The Attorney General must not just lead this Department's workforce, but must respect it, and when necessary, defend it. It is the responsibility of every employee of the Justice Department to do what is right. And it is the obligation of the Attorney General to have their backs when they do. That is what you have done. And that is the kind of Attorney General I have tried to be. On my first day back at the Justice Department four years ago, I said that working here is more than a job. It is a calling. I said that those of us who come to work here are united by our commitment to the rule of law and to seeking equal justice under law. We are united by our commitment to protecting our country, as our oath says, "From all enemies foreign and domestic." And we are united by our commitment to enforcing our country's laws and to ensuring the civil rights and civil liberties of our people. I also said that these would be the principles that would guide us, not only in word, but also in deed.

(01:13:06)
I am grateful to each of you for the work you have done over the last four years to fulfill that promise. Today, communities across the country are safer because of you. Because you work shoulder to shoulder with local law enforcement officers and with the communities they serve to dramatically turn the tide against a violent crime that spiked during the pandemic. Because you answered the call when families who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning were seeking justice, and when local police departments were seeking help to confront the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced. Because you disrupted threats from foreign and domestic terrorists and from authoritarian regimes that threatened our country's security. You made the lives of people across the country better because you challenged anticompetitive agreements and unlawful monopolies, because you safeguarded taxpayers and citizens from fraud and public corruption, and because you protected neighborhoods harmed by environmental degradation. You secured historic financial penalties against corporations that violated the law. And you made clear to corporate executives that they do not operate outside the bounds of the law.

(01:14:32)
You work tirelessly to fulfill the Justice Department's founding purpose to protect civil rights. You confronted the discrimination in lending and housing that harms families for generations, the discrimination in schools that deprive students of educational opportunities, and the discrimination in the workplace that stifles economic opportunity. You stood up for the right of every citizen to vote and to have that vote counted. You stood up for the right of women to access lawful and life-saving reproductive care. You made clear to communities victimized by hate crimes that they do not stand alone, that the United States Department of Justice stands with them.

(01:15:24)
You protected our country's democratic institutions from violence and threats of violence. You charged more than 1,500 people for criminal conduct that occurred during the January 6th attack on the Capitol, as well as in the days and weeks leading up to that attack. You brought to justice those who kicked, punched, beat, and tased law enforcement officers who were protecting the Capitol that day. And you pursued accountability for that attack on our democracy wherever it led, guided only by your commitment to following the facts and the law. I am proud of the work you have done. I am equally proud of the way you have done that work. I am proud that when I visited you in communities across the country, I saw not only the skill with which you have done your work, but the depth of your compassion.

(01:16:23)
In Uvalde, I saw how you truly honored the lives of the 19 children and two teachers who were taken from their loved ones. In Pittsburgh, even after the Tree of Life trial was over and it felt like the rest of the world had moved on, I saw you sit with family members of victims of that attack and listen to them talk about the people they lost. In Louisville, in Minneapolis, and in Memphis, I saw the care you took in approaching families and communities mourning loved ones killed by those sworn to protect them. I saw your commitment to pursuing justice in honor of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tyre Nichols. I saw your commitment to working with both local law enforcement and the community to enact long-term systemic reforms.

(01:17:25)
In Charlotte, after Deputy US Marshal Tommy Weeks and three other officers were shot and killed while apprehending a fugitive, I saw you come together to support their loved ones. I saw the US Marshal's family show up, through their own grief, to be there for each other. And in Tommy's wife, Kelly, I saw that too-often unseen, unimaginable strength of the families of law enforcement officers.

(01:18:13)
I know that this barely scratches the surface of the work you have done. It does not capture the hours you have spent away from your family, the long days and nights, weekends, and holidays you have spent working. It does not capture the enormous risk you have taken and the dangers you have faced while doing your jobs. But for all of this work, and for so much more, I thank you. I am so proud of you. I know that you do not do this work for public recognition. You do this work because you are public servants. But I also know that a lot has been said about this Department about people outside of it, by people outside of it, about what your job is, and what it is not, and about why you do your work the way you do it. I know that over the years, some have criticized the Department, saying it has allowed politics to influence its decision-making.

(01:19:13)
That criticism often comes from people with political views opposite from one another, each making the exact opposite points about the same set of facts. I know that you have faced unfounded attacks simply for doing your job. At the very same time, you have risked your lives to protect our country from a range of foreign and domestic threats. But the story that has been told by some outside of this building about what has happened inside of it is wrong. You have worked to pursue justice, not politics. That is the truth. And nothing can change it. I know that a lot is being asked of you right now. All I ask is that you remember who you are and why you came to work here in the first place. You are public servants and patriots who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. You are professionals of the utmost integrity who are worthy of the trust of the American people. Your job is to do what is right, nothing more and nothing less.

(01:20:34)
More than 40 years after I first entered this building, it is now time to say goodbye. It will be hard to leave these hallowed halls. It will be hard to leave the leadership team that has guided the Department with such extraordinary skill, integrity, and 24/7 dedication. Lisa, Ben, and Vanita before him, all of our component heads, the leaders of our law enforcement agencies, our US Attorneys, and my long-suffering staff. It will be even harder to leave the career workforce who have been my colleagues, my mentors, and my friends over so many years. But it will be hardest to leave this job where every day is another opportunity to uphold the rule of law, to keep my fellow citizens safe, and to protect civil rights. I will miss it. I will miss all of you. I could not be more honored than to have served alongside you as Attorney General. Thank you.

Lisa (01:22:59):

Thank you, Mr. Attorney General. Thank you for those wonderful words, for your service, for yours and your family's sacrifice, and for your leadership. And now that concludes our ceremony and our celebration of the Attorney General. I invite everyone to join us upstairs in the Attorney General's hallway and conference room for some refreshments. Thank you all for being here.

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