impeachment of alejandro nicholas mayorkas executive homeland security. >> house impeachment managers have delivered two articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas to the senate. he is charged with refuse to comply with the law and breach of public trust for his handling of the southern border. the trial is expected resume today at one p.m. easte when senators will be sworn in as jurs watcher unfiltered coverage of the trial live on c-span2, also in c-span now o free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> if you have missed him at c-span's coverage, you can find it any time online at c-span.org. videos of key hearings, debates and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and is with highlights picky points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on

select videos. this timeline toll makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest. >> next, attorney general merrick garland testifying on the president 125 budget request for the justice department before a house appropriations subcommittee. he was question on a variety of topics including holding china and mexico accountable for the role in the fiscal crisis, the justice department's new rule for firearm dealers, and the special counsel investigation into president biden's handling of classified documents. this runs just over two hours. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> -- declare recess at any time. today we welcome the attorney general of the united un, the honorable merrick garland, to our subcommittee to testify on the department of justices fiscal year 2025 budget request. the department requests about $38 billion in discretionary sources, an increase of nearly 2% over the fiscal year 2024 enacted level. once again the department budget ambition uses things such as,

quote, upholding the rule of law, and keeping our country safe. it's the job of congress to examine whether agency priorities line up with these themes and fund the department appropriately and accordingly. unfortunately, the department's budget underwhelmed and does not thoughtfully identified areas where strategic reductions could be made, aside from a local law enforcement. i'm not advocating for arbitrary, large-scale reductions that would make the department ineffective and our country less safe. however, i do believe that robust law enforcement and strategic reductions are not conflicting. it just requires hard work and thoughtful prioritization.

so let's examine the department's 25, fiscal 25 priorities five priorities. the department prioritizes combating drug trafficking and preventing overdose deaths. and you note that the fentanyl epidemic accounts for some two-thirds of the more than 110,000 drug overdose deaths eachhs year. while the submission to rightly highlights quote, defeating drug cartels and combating the drug poisoning epidemic and communities, the budget puts a departmentwide emphasis on equipping federal agents with body cameras. drugar cartels and their crime syndicates in the united states must be decimated, period.

the death and devastation the cartels and gains are inflicting on american families, bringing them to justice ought to be the department's of top priority. whether the agencies doing a decimating having cameras attached in a secondary by far. despite this administration's best efforts to push the issue to the back burner, the biden border crisis continues and shows no signs of stopping. people and trucks continue to flow across the southern border in blatant contradiction of our laws. an ever evolving situation, last year 50 times more chinese citizens were apprehended crossing illegally from mexico

compared to two years ago. 50 times worse. when land owners attempt to protect their life andec proper, they end up being arrested. when will this madness stop? perhaps when this administration takes the cops off law enforcement and allows them to do their job. -- costs -- next the department prioritizes combating violent crime and gun violence. in their 2023 violent crime survey, the major city chiefs association noted a decrease in homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in american cities. however, these decreases were slight, and the numbers remain unacceptably high. nevertheless, i'm hopeful that

this change in direction signifies a lasting about-face by those who embraced defund the police movement and vindication for those of us who decried it from the very beginning. with the trends for now seeming to go in the right direction, it can't house me that the department seeks to cut law enforcementen assistance -- con found -- including to state and local law enforcement assistance grants and the state criminal alien assistance program. another priority listed by the department is protecting national security by countering terrorism, cyber threats, and nationstate threats. to that end i will command the

national security division for acknowledging in their budget submission the october 7 terrorist attack on israel by the terror group hamas, noting that the attack has led to an increase in terrorism related conduct. both domestically and overseas. such a warning has taken on greater importance. in recent weeks this chants of death to america are no longer confined to middle eastern capitals but i'll been heard -- chants -- on american streets. it's such chants are not terrorism related, i tell you, it's pretty close. i would like to hear if the attorney general agrees and what action the department might take regarding these developments

aside from issuing state issued condonation. the department of justice over the last four years -- condemnation -- has picked sides and prosecuting and ultimately failed to uphold the rule of law equallyy and fairly when it coms to american citizens, and even american businesses. it's not surprising that two phrases notably absent from the budget request are, quote, equal justice under law, and, quote, respect for separation of powers, end of quote. in closing, mr. attorney general, where we can find agreement, you will find support here. but when priorities diverge and agency actions are at odds with what we consider good government and common sense, we will respond accordingly.

we are recognizing that you have at incredibly demanding job. i appreciate you being here today. we look forward to working with ranking member and all members of the subcommittee to appropriately fund the important missions of the department of justice as of this year's appropriations process moves forward. at this time i want to recognize mr. cartwright for any remarks he may wish to make. >> thank you, chairman rogers. i would like to echo you and welcoming attorney general merrick garland hactivist subcommittee to discuss the department of justice is fiscal year 2025 budget request. ag garland, i thank you for your continued leadership at the department of justice come for leading the men and women who work tirelessly to continue the pursuit of truth and justice.

resources provided the justice department are and will continue to be under a microscope with the mission of the justice department remains unchanged. i look forward to working with you to ensure we're making smart investments to keep our communities safe. just last week fbi director wray was before us and we heard about the real challenges that the fbi along with its state, local, anc tribal law enforcement partners are facing, especially in keepinges deadly fentanyl off or streets. i heard him clearly, state and local law enforcement areen askg for more support from the fbi, not less. and i trust that could be said for many other bureaus at the department as well. further, the defense of our national security and mitigation of emerging foreign and domestic threats, including cyber, is critical. i view it as the main mission,

our paramount responsibility, keeping americans safe here in congress. and the department's role in upholding the rule of law and preserving our democratic values for free and fair elections, cannot be understated. to carry out the department's of broad missions, your fiscal year 2025 budget request seeks 38.9 billion and discretionary funding, a 5% increase above the fiscal year 2024 enacted level. your request prioritizes funding for the over 100,000 employees of the department of justice, and makes vital increases to every federal law enforcement agency and the u.s. attorney offices picky of requested a strong increase in the violence against women act grants as will the strong increases for cops hiring grants and the byrne justice assistance grant for the

funding for state and local law enforcement. and i look forward with chairman rogers and you, attorney general garland, on ensuring that we sustain investment that our state and local law enforcement partners rely on. congress cannot ignore the challenges that our communities face back at home. attorney general garland, once again welcome. thank you for being here. i look forward to your testament to working with you on ensuring that would provide what the department of justice needs for fiscal year 2025. yield back, mr. chairman. >> mr. attorney general, you are now recognized for an opening statement. without objection your written statement will be entered into the record. i i would ask that you try to kp your statement to fiveat minutes ord. thereabouts so we can havem additional time for questions. >> thank you, chairman rogers, ranking member cartwright, distinguished members of the

subcommittee. the opportunity to discuss the justice department's funding request fiscal year 2025.mb since i last appeared before you for more than 115,000 public servants make up the justice department, have continued to work tirelessly to fulfill our mission. keep our country safe, to protect civil rights, and to uphold the rule of law. over the past year are use attorneys offices, law enforcement agents and grantmaking experts of work together with police and community partners across the country to help drive down violent crime. we have zeroed in on individuals and gangs responsible for the greatest violence, made critical investment in police departments to hire more officers. and dedicated resources for initiatives aimed at preventing and disrupting violence before it occurs. we've got after the cartels responsible for trafficking deadly fentanyl into our

communities and flaunt their -- brought the leaders did just that you and united states. we have prosecuted fraud,, recovered funds stolen from american taxpayers, and challenge illegal monopolies that hurt consumers and workers. we have worked to defend reproductive freedoms that are protected by federal law and to monitor laws and actions that infringe on those protections. we have worked to combat the disturbing spike in threats of violence against those who serve the public, against judges, police officers, members of congress, and even against our own employees. we have worked to aggressively investigate, prosecute and to stop the hate crimes that not only harm individuals but strike fear across communities. and in everything we do we have worked to ensure the equal protection of law that is foundational to our democracy.

i am proud of the work we have done, and i am deeply proud of the way the department's public servants from our agents to our attorneys to our administrative staff have gone about their work. they have conducted themselves in the way that would make the american people proud. but we recognize that we have so much more to do. our fiscal year 2025 budget request reflects the difficult budget environmentre we are in, and the extremely difficult budget choices we've had to make because of it. it also reflects the resources that we need now more than ever. to continue our work. when i became attorney generale three years ago i knew that grappling with the by the crime that surged during the pandemic would be one of the greatest challenges we would face at the justice department. i glad to be able to report that last year we saw significant decrease in overall violent

crime across the country compared to the previous year, including an over 13% decline in homicides. that isye the largest one-year decline in homicides in over 30 years. and data indicates that this decline is continuing. as a "wall street journal" reported just this week, in the first three months of this year homicides dropped 20% across 133 cities compared to the same period last year. but i want to be very clear. there is no acceptable level of violent crime. too many communities are stillll struggling, and too many people are still scared. a hard-fought progress we are seeing an easily slip away, but we must remain focused and vigilant. to continue our efforts to drive down via the crime and help keep

our countrywe safe from a rangef threats we're seeking a total of $21 billion to support the efforts of the fbi, atf, dea, u.s. marshal service, and use attorneys offices as well as the criminal division of the national security division. we would use these resources to continue our fight against gunse violence, prosecute illegal gun traffickers and straw purchasers, and to advance, and fast in the vast technological tools like ballistics analysis firearms tracing, gun intelligence centers and local fusion cells. we would use these resources to strengthen our work to counter both foreign and domestic terrorism.he as the fbi director has testified, we are facing an increasing threat of foreign terrorism since october 7. we will also use these resources to continue to counter the threats that the governments of iran, russia, china and north

korea pose to our national security and economicc stabilit, and we would use these resources to continue our efforts to dismantle the global fentanyl supply chain and to break apart the cartels that are responsible for flooding poison into our communities. as we deploy our own prosecutorial and investigative resources, we also recognize that the department's partnerships have been and will continue to be somee of the most powerful tools we have two battle violent crime. that is why we are seeking investment in the department's three grantmaking components, the office of justice programs, the office of community-oriented policing services, and the office of violence against women. they provide direct support to community and law enforcement partners through more than 200 grant programs. our budget request more than $4.3 billion to support the

public safety efforts of our state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and community partners. that amount we're requesting $2.5 billion for cops are reprogrammed to support law enforcement agencies across the country in their efforts to hire full-time law enforcement professionals. and we are requesting $120.5 million as part of our new violent crime reduction and prevention fund to fund 940 detectives at the state and local level. as i've noted before, when the justice department was foundedno 1in 1870, one of its principal purpose was to protect civil rights. today, protecting the safety and the civil rights of everyone in this country remains our urgent obligation. our budget seeks $201.3 n

for the civil rights division to continue its essential work, including its efforts to deter and prosecute hate crimes, to ensure constitutional policing, to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination in all its forms, and to protect the right of all eligible citizens to vote and to have that vote counted. the right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. protecting that right also requires us to protect the citizens who rely on, who we rely on to fairly administer voting. our democracy cannot function if officials, workers and volunteers who administer our elections have to fear for their lives just for doing their jobs. the justice department is aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who threaten election workers with violence. and we will continue to do so. as i said, i am extremely proud

of the department's employees who are doing the work necessary to advance the department's mission. every day they work brings them face-to-face with some of our country's greatest challenges. every day many of them risked their lives to protect the public. i am grateful to them. i respectively ask your support for the president's fiscal 2025 budget requests so that we can continue our work on behalf of the american people. >> thank you, attorney general garland. we will now proceed under the five-minute rule with questions for theit witness. i will beginwe by recognizing myself.

you mentioned in your testimony about being here last year at this time. this time last year, too, there were 120,000 people who died because of our inability to staunch the flow of fentanyl especially. most recent data from cdc shows that from may 22 to may 23 for the first time in american history over 112,000 americans died from a drug overdose. 2200 of those from my state of kentucky alone. that no remains the primary driver of that increase overdose

deaths -- fentanyl --- and young americans have been particularly hard-hit. for teenagers, 84% of fatal overdoses involved fentanyl. almost all. last week, director wray, the fbi director, was testifying here when he said that quote, the last twoai years in a row te fbi seized enough fentanyl to kill 270 million american people. there can be a no doubt that a tragically high amount of narcotics are slipping through ourso southern border, and a war crisis created by this administration is a dream scenario for cartels. they've never had it so good. the department's budget

submission has listed combating drug trafficking and preventing overdose deaths as the top priority. with multiple agencies and components within the department of justice implementing strategies to counter fentanyl. how are you assuring and ensuring that agencies don't side though their intelligence, and that these efforts complement rather than inhibit each other? >> a very important point, mr. chairman. fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat this country has ever faced, both because it's extraordinarily cheap to make, extraordinarily profitable to sell, and because often it can be fatal. said in its public affairs campaign, just one pill

can kill. so the justice department and the government as a whole isn't all government and all department approach to this question your and you're exactly right, we have to prevent any kind of siloing. so fbi, dea, marshall's, the criminal division, civil division, and our grants to local and state government law enforcement are all combine to work together to battle this scourge. it begins with the precursor companies in china. can't make the fentanyl without the precursors. so we're doing everything we can. we have charged, and died the precursor companies, treasury department has sanctioned the precursor companies. the precursors then move into mexico. we have, i i personally traveo mexico three times, the deputy

attorney general ottley has also traveled at least three times. other aye officials have traveled, to persuade the mexican government to put controls on the precursors and to stop the precursors from coming in. in mexico, we are working with the mexican marines and the mexican army to destroy the labs and to take down the cartels, and in particular to get assistance in the extradition of the cartel members who have indicted in the united states. we have indicted dozens of members of the mexican cartels. we have often successful exhibitions of people like guzmán was the son of el chapo. we've gotten some support in bringing these people into the united states. the next thing that happens is exactly as you say, it crosses our southern border. as the sect of homeland security has testified, most of this comes through the ports of entry

crossing the border. what's necessary at that point is forat more money for the department ofmo homeland securi. i hate to be asking for money for another department, but if her going to stop money come fentanyl from coming in, they need large x-ray machines, fast x-ray machines back and look at these trucks and these suvs, these passenger cars as they come across the border. then fbi picks, and dea and the trend, pics of the traffickers once they come into the united states, and in combined operations including work with the marshals of the u.s. attorneys offices, investigates using the latest investigative tools and prosecutes. the dea has at the very end of the line look affairs campaign.f we have to cut off the demand as well. that's why we emphasize that one pill can kill. that's why went to the dea

headquarters and met with the families, the very kind fans are talked about, young people who have died taking a pill they had no idea was fentanyl. >> general, what percentage of your drug trafficking work, what percent tied to illegal smuggling from mexico? >> well, i can't give a number in that regard, but as i said, the vast majority of fentanyl comes into the united states smuggled in trucks and cars come across ports of entry. that's what the department of homeland security has identified. >> to be even clearer, which are counter drug efforts be even more successful if we had complete control of our southern border? >> if we had the x-ray machines and other investigative devices necessary toma detect fentanyl s is coming across the border, absolutely.

if we could cut off of that flow that would vastly -- there will be other ways that people try to get it in, through the mail come through shipping, et cetera, but if we could cut off the fentanyl crossing the border using these new technologies, that would make an enormous dent in the dangerous poison that is flooding our cities. >> last week we had fbi director wray sitting in the seat you now occupy. he noted that he wished that was more cooperation f from mexico about drug trafficking. from a departmentwide counter drug perspective, what is the level of cooperation we are receiving, or not, from mexico? >> i would echo what the director said. i wish there was more cooperation. we are getting cooperation. we had extraditions. i have destroyed some labs.

they have reduced precursors coming into the country, but we need much, much more cooperation. >> as i understand it, the court mexican government has severely constrained doj's ability to work alongside their mexican counterparts -- correct mexican -- to disrupt the cartels. what is the department and this administration doing to restore full law enforcement airships with mexican partner? >> so the fbi has i think as the director testified has been successful in setting up some bedding teens. i personally gone to mexico to speak with the attorney general to we up the degree of cooperation that prepa's existed with the dea. i would say i've not been completely successful in that effort yet, but i am persistent item will not give up until the

cooperation with dea is as fulsome ass possible. >> there are people based on that lack of a border control who say that the mexican government really is complicit with the cartels. would you say that? >> i don't want to comment on that specifically. the cartels are enormously profitable. they have more money than some nationstates, and there are places in mexico where it is difficult to deal wither the cartels. i will say that when mexican law enforcement, and particularly the naval forces, the marines, the army have gone to arrest people that we've extradited, this has come at the enormous loss to them as well.

i called the secretary of the navy there to give my condolences for the deaths of marines in connection with the arrest. they have a very difficult job as we do. >> are right. >> thank you, mr. chairman. attorney general garland, it didn't escape my notice that you comment on crime statistics a little bit in your opening statement. is that correct? >> just. >> and we keep track of crime statistics here and the united states, not just federal crimes but all state and local crimes. we keep track of violent crimes that we keep track of crimes against property. am i correct in that. >> is yes. that's what the fbi crime reports. >> and you said homicides dropped last year more than any of the and the last 30 30 ye, it's upright? >> that's right. >> it's not just limited to a drop in homicide to though, is

it, attorney general garland. >> was no. fbi shows a decrease in violent crime across the board. is that just limited to decrease in violent crime. yesterday, a reputable analytics company came out with a report that reviewed all of the national information on crime, and if you separate out violent crime versus property crime, take violent crime, he noted violent crime is down a considerable amount. violent crime including murder, down. manslaughter down. rape down. robbery down. aggravated assault down. all of them down a considerable amount. and then even into property crime, with the exception of motor vehicle theft. burglary is down. larceny theft down. all of these down a considerable, considerable

amount. am i stating that correctly, attorney general garland,. >> what you are. obviously there are differences in different places in the country and some have gone up in some went up at those are overall numbers. i also want to say i think i understated the success on homicide. it's actually the largest reductiontu in 50 years. >> it's a down more than any other year and the last 50 years? >> right. i think iar said 30 3050 i ts the correct. >> thank you for the correction, attorney general garland,, and thank you for the good hard work of assaulting police work and solid prosecutorial work that done not only by the department of justice, but also by the state and local police and prosecutors. that's it deserves the credit forhe this. >> they are the one to deserve the credit. we support them. we help them. we deal with the most difficult crimes. we the with technological support. but the people who actually face

to face with violent crime in the communities are the state and localca police and law enforcement. >> well, you were here today before the appropriations panel and we are the ones that find yourur efforts. one of the most important areas that i look into our the cops hiring grants. and as i mentioned a opening statement, the byrne justice assistance grant. i've been very proud to bring grants home in both of those areas to fund local police and also to fund efforts by our local district attorneys. these are the ones that deserve the credit for that you to dn crime over the last year, aren't they? >> i quite agree with yes. >> will need the wordsut in your mouth, attorney general. what else, who else deserves a credit for the big drop in crime that america has experienced?

>> look, we know, because we had experience over decades now, the right kind of strategy for reducing violentes crime. these involved, these strategies from a federal . if you require the kind of cooperation, the non-silo thing that the chip was speaking among all of our agencies, i've been creating joint task forces with state and local law enforcement who are enormous force multipliers for the department. our u.s. attorneys offices to reach out to communities, grant programs to support community violence interrupters who go out into communities and prevent the crime from happening in the first place, who are willing to meet with potentially violent people and talk them down. so the importance of our grants to local communities to enhance

good relationships between the police and the communities, as we don't getet good policing and effective policing unless the community trust the police. so it's a combination across the board of federal law enforcement, state and local law enforcement, community engagement. >> well, that's well said. i want to focus on hiring of attorneys to go into prosecution work. attorney general, what is the department of justice doing now to prioritize creating efficiencies init its hiring and reducing the time to hire so that we have enough attorneys working for the department of justice and in prosecution generally? >> well, with respect to law enforcement reduction in time to hire, this is a significant issue with respect to retention, promotion, recruitment and law enforcement. sometimes both federal law

enforcement and state and local law enforcement takes so long to hire the person to go through the whole background and vetting process that the person already accepts another job before we can finish that process or state and local skin. so our c.o.p.s. office has created a playbook for state and local law enforcement to increase and streamline that process. of course we're looking internally to do the same thing. >> well, my time has expired, attorney general, and i will yield back, mr. chairman. >> mr. garcia? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, attorney general harlan for being here today. i view these annual appropriations hearings as similar to investor, annual and the debris. >> we get to talk about was going on inou your position, the money asking for, outperforms, the path for the most americans know what theth department of justice does. i don't think most americans or the attorney general does. i would on your website and just

printed out a mission statement. the mission statement of the department of justice is to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe and to protect civil rights. pretty straightforward. pretty simple. you have been in office since 2021. you report directly to the president. and you know your mission. for your investors, the american taxpayers, how would you grade your performance over the last three years relative to that mission. >> well, i would grade the work of speeders on talking you, attorney general. with all due respect to you and your team, i have all the respect and the: world for the agents in the field. they are doing god to work on a daily basis, so the final questioning is specifically about you as someone who is on the cabinet, reports directly to the present during at period of record high crime rates be before my colleagues across i'll get offended, i'm'm not talk abt the agency nicu. i think they're doing gods were, doing a plus with the resources

they're given and the policies they are working under. i'm asking you how would you rate yourself as attorney general of the united states. >> you ask about by the time, i think what attorney general does with respect to violent crime is set forth a strategy for fighting violent crime and ensures that it's carried out throughout the department, the country so what i did almost immediately after i came into office -- >> i do need to catch up but was short on time. just asking for a great, how are you doing. >> with i'm going to give myself andnt a but with room for improvement. >> okay.u but makes letto you why i with q and f. we just heard why mr. cartwright from pennsylvania with sidingwr the decline in crime nationwide. your mission is to uphold the rule of law and crossing the border is a a crime. it is illegal per penal code eight usc 1325 crossing international board is a cry. we have 7.5 million people under tenure of come across our

border. when you say there's a decline in homicides by about 20% to store a kite in decline in homicides in 30 years or 50 years whatever the number is, that that include the 75,000 people who were killed by fentanyl or poisoned by fentanyl by many cases dealers and it actually were selling fentanyl and the victims did not? does that decline in homicides of 20% include the 75,000 fentanyl poisonings? >> i'm sure that does not include the fentanyl poisonings. >> those were american's lives lost both, were killed by illicit drug dealers for the most part. why is that not speeders u.s. attorneys offices to pursue fentanyl traffickers, and including even the sale of small amounts where we can establish that the trafficker is the one who caused the death. >> do you have, do you charge them with homicide when that is the case? >> there's a narcotics statutet that includes sentencing

enhancement for death. we don't prosecute, such that those or state law. >> when were putting the capon and saying there's a h 20% reduction in homicides, we are not counted this and five -- the 75,000 americans have been killed by thisye drug each year. second metric of keep your country safe. we talk about that the death to america chants some of our city. we heard raise testimony last year that will win the most precarious positions our nation has been in in our nation's history in the last several decades. we have 10,000 people entering our border that they illegally. 7000% increase in chinesepl immigrants coming across our border illegally. 10,000 people a day come across the borders and that's about a 40% increase since your watch began in fy 21. 350 people on the no, no terror watchlist, eight in ten feel less secure than they did just three or four years ago per the pew research center pic so your

assessment of yourself i think someone who is in your possession literally reports directly to the president, not too bit of a leader in the position has to be self aware. they have to have the courage to tell the boss if the boss is screwing up, especially when it is leading toen loss of lives aa level that is unprecedented. and i think you are giving yourself and a and under the circumstances demonstrates a lack of self-awareness, frankly. i think you have earned and f. i think you need to talk to your boss and tell them that the policies are killing us, not the lack of money. i respect the $37 billion investment request your. if i was in charge i would give you more but it's the policies that are broken. and so with that i'm out of time to come happy to discuss more things, but i will wait for the second round to talk about the treatment of law and application of law to certain demographics. i yield back.aw thank you, mr. chairman.

>> mr. mireles? [inaudible] >> i would like to give the attorney general a chance to respond to what he just heard. >> sited cited here questiot at all. and a discreet with almost everything that you said i want to be clear that the border responsibility you're talking to the wrong department here. the departmentth of homeland security is the department responsible for preventing things and come across the border. the president and the sect of homeland security have proposed a bipartisan bill to protect the border to reduce the number of people coming across and to increase the money spent to prevent fentanylul from coming across the border. so that would be my recommendation in that respect. >> and i yield back to mr. marelli. >> thank you, mr. cartwright. thank you, mr. chairman. and i will just editorialize this, this is a secondary a bent at both director the fbi and the attorney general combivent personally attacked and want to

underscorere the was a bipartisn deal on the table and does understand the former president persuaded people not to participate in the because didn't want a political when picky kid about the politics and safety nicest people in american people. so i'm getting tired of these hearings ofth listening to these attacks when they can be addressed. having said that, mr. attorney general, thank you would take the time to be with us today and thank you for your long service to the country. i want to begin by thanking your staff and you for having provided detailed feedback on a bill which i reintroduced the preventing deepfakes of intimate images act. this is to prohibit the disclosure of nonconsensual deepfake pornography. obviously a growing and alarming problem in the united states. 93% of all deepfakes involve photography ond the internet. and as i work to pass this legislation into law, which i hope, i want hope that i can continue have lines of communication open to you and to the department i want to thank

you for that. if i can, sir, there's obviously been a lot of public reporting on the release of special counsel back in february this year. i am certain that ask you to comment on the substance of the report which is been taught to publicly but as a of the president's come at some of who is regular contact with the the president we like to comment on president biden's fitness generally? >> look, i will start by thanking youou for recognizing that i i can comment and i wil not comment about special counsel's report at all. if you ask me about my own observations as a of the national strata council, a member of the president's of thn become a complete confidence and the president. i have watched him expertly guide meetings of staff and cabinet members on issues of foreign affairs and military strategy and policy in the incredibly complex world in which we now face, and of which

he has been decisive in instructions to the staff and decisive in making the decisions necessary to protect the country. .. which we now face. and in which he's been decisive in instructions to the staff, decisive in making the decisions necessary to protect the country. like wise, with respect to domestic policy discussions, these are intricate, complicated questions that he's guided all of us through in order to reach results that are helpful and important and beneficial to the american people. i could not have more confidence in the president. mr. morelle: thank you, sir. i have a number of questions which i may submit in writing but one thing i did want to get >> you mentioned in your testimony. in addition to my role as an appropriator, i'm proud to serve as the ranking democrat on the committee of house administration, elections reforms. in july, launching a task force the rise in threats against election workers and election officials. in addition to threats of violence and intimidation, our countries election workers face new and unique pressures due to

misinformation by extremists, less than eight months before the general election, can you update the task force and department's plans to make sure that election workers are protected from threats. >> yes, thank you. in my opening remarks, threats to election workers, particularly volunteer election workers, but also secretaries of state and the appointed administrators, this is a real threat to our democracy to have the people who are running our elections afraid to continue their work. and so, we have -- i have personally spoken to all of our united states attorneys by video and in addition in person during our conferences. the fbi has agents devoted to this issue and we have this task force that you're talking about. we have prosecuted more than-- around 20 cases now, many of

which have yielded significant sentences. and we have investigated many, many more. and disrupted other kinds of threats. so, we are completely seized with the importance of preventing, deterring, disrupting, threats against our election works. >> thank you, sir. mr. chair, i yield back. >> mr. clyde. >> thank you, chairman rogers. attorney general garland, as i understand it, the hatch act generally prohibits federal employees from lobbying on the job. last week, while the house was considering legislation to reform and reauthorize the intelligence surveillance act. did you or anyone else in your office with phone calls, urge the government to obtain a warrant prior to spying on

citizens to section 702, a yes or no will suffice. >> the hatch act, the presence of the administration speak with members who are questioning about the effect of legislation just like you are asking me today about-- >> if we ask, that's one thing, but if we don't ask and you actually reach out, that's a different thing. >> that does not violate any law of any kind. if you answer my question. >> yes, i discussed the vital united states' interest in extending 702 with members-- >> how many members did you call? >> i'm not going to get into my conversations with members. i'm not asking you about the conversations, how many members did you call. >> i'm not going to get into that question, but i'm telling you nothing-- >> on march 3rd, 2024 at tabernacle church in selma, alabama you made comments about our country's election and security laws passed by various states. specifically you claimed that democracy was under attack and i quote by discriminatory

burdensome unnecessary restrictions access to the ballot. attorney general, do you believe that having a federal i.d. to vote, is discriminatory, yes or no. >> and voting rights began-- >> yes or no will be fine. >> the answer is the supreme court decision says undue burdens on voting rights caused by voter i.d.'s can be unconstitutional, but that-- >> what? >> the burdens. >> that's right, that's what-- >> voter i.d. can be unconstitutional. >> it can be depending upon the burdens and the discriminatory way in which they're taken. >> okay. so do you think it's important to positively identify every voter to ensure that they are a legal voter? i think as you've called it, a legitimate voter? >> no, you have to be a united states citizen, you have to meet qualifications to be a voter. it's important that only those people vote. >> so how do you prove that, if

how do you prove what a person is without an i.d. you have to have i.d. it get on an internship a. >> i have voted every year of my entire life and never been asked to show identification. >> i've always been asked to show identification. wow. >> somehow democracy has gone on without that. >> attorney general maryland, do you believe that illegal aliens residing in the united states be allowed to vote in federal elections, yes or no. >> no. >> great, we agree on something. >> other than u.s. citizens are there any other legitimate voters? >> you have to be a u.s. citizen to vote. >> you must be a u.s. citizen, okay, great. i ask unanimous consent to add this to the record, mr. chairman. thank you, sir. this is a poster found in the city, outside the city matamoros, posted around the migrant camps and it's a poster from hias, the immigrant aid

society and this particular poster says the resource center is a six-unit complex hias and at the bottom reminder to vote for president biden when you're in the united states. we need another year of your mandate to stay open. that's what this-- that's what this poster says. reminds illegal immigrants to vote for president biden. so, is the department of justice concerned about illegal aliens voting in federal elections. >> the department of justice is concerned about any illegalities with respect to voting. i've never seen that poster, never heard of that poster, the first time i've heard anybody mention at that poster. >> well, now you have. so, if any non-citizens vote in federal elections are you going to prosecute them at the federal level. >> anybody violates the voting laws, federal voting laws and we will investigate and prosecute as appropriate. >> all right. that's good to hear. i appreciate that.

with the additional money you asked for the civil rights division, i hope that you prosecute illegal voting. >> now, last year you promised to provide the prosecution of crime statistics for the city of washington d.c. for the last five years, a question that i asked you. i have not yet received them. so, i'm asking you again today, do you commit to provide these statistics, the prosecution of crimes statistics for the city of washington d.c. will you provide these in the next 30 days? >> i'll ask my staff to get in touch with yours. i don't know what the problem is with respect to providing those. doesn't seem like there should be a problem. >> thank you, i appreciate your commitment to provide them, attorney general, my time expired and i'll yield back. [inaudible conversations] >> there will be order.

[inaudible conversations] >> free julian assange, freedom of the press is important. >> the chair reminds disruptions demonstrations from the audience are a violation of house rules. any additional disruptions will require law enforcement to remove protesters from the room and restore order. >> . >> i thank you, chairman, and thank you attorney general garland for appearing here today and thank you for your patience as you deal with this committee. i'm a co-chair of the bipartisan second task-- second chance task force and we're concerned about staffing shortages at the bop.

the bop's funded at 93%, but we're only staffed at 86%. what's happening is education wrap-around services for mental health, et cetera, and improve outcomes, job training and get left behind. so we're all in agreement of that. and we would like to figure out how to figure out the bipartisan first step and to do that we have to have staffing. can you talk for a minute what this does to allow the outcomes where we can't cut our prison budget because we don't give folks a second chance to win, succeed. >> i think for the question, i think that first act was supremely important. i focus on education of inmates, it helps reduce recidivism after people leave and of course, if we can reduce

recidivism after reentry, reduce the violent crime rates from going up. >> and making sure that the staffing shortages that you're referring to, don't impact the programming, as well as the education assisted treatment programming, but to be frank, if you're asking me what we need most in order to protect the ability at full staffing at the bureau prisons, we need as the money for hiring and retention. being a correctional officer or being a first step administrator, these are dangerous jobs in these facilities that are not-- that have not been kept up over decades and where there are adjoining facilities, sometimes state and local facilities that pay more money. i would say if you're asking me for the one thing that will give us a better chance here

for the first step act and for the second chance act, it would be to give us the money that we're requesting, which is 205.4 million dollars for hiring and retention. >> quite simply, the dollars that would give you the property amount of money would result in saving millions, tens of millions more down the line by cutting recidivism. >> i do think that the money that we have to provide more incentives for people to stay on the job in the bureau of prisons means the chances of reducing recidivism will increase. >> that sounds like a smart investment to me. second quick question, second bop inmates don't have i.d., can't apply for jobs, housing, benefits, et cetera. and the bureau is providing i.d. for u.s. citizens now and the bop card release act that

supports this effort, new i.d.'s to fill all the requirements and direct the bop to work with the states have a one-on-one exchange to work right with the states to move these folks into getting their new i.d. card and successfully exchange that for state i.d. cards. we would appreciate your help in moving this bill forward. does that make sense to you? >> we would be happen to give technical assistance, and i think we-- our staff may have already-- our staffs may have already consulted on this, but of course, we'd be happy to give technical assistance. the bop has implemented its release i.d. program in october of 2023 and they're on track for implementation by the spring. >> excellent, thank you. the dea has extended current telemedicine flexibility for prescribing controlled medications through december 31, 24, but there's not a revised proposed rule and many

patients are at risk of losing access to prescriptions needed to are mental health and substance use disorder. last year, my colleagues and i expressed concerns about the proposed dea rule that would have limited patient access and encourage evidence-based approach to make permanent the use of audio only or audio-visual telehealth technology for this prescribing. this is crucial to reach these patient populations, including unhoused, rural, tribal. so the follow-up to that letter, we introduced the treats act, which allows medication for opioid use disorder to be prescribed via telemedicine. what's doj's position on the continued use of telehealth flexibility for the medically necessary substance use disorder treatment and how is it supported in your budget

request? >> so, as you noted, the dea and hhs have extended the current telemedicine flexibilities until december 31st of this year. dea issued a proposed rule which would allow authorized providers to prescribe medicines for disorders via telemedicine and the final year-- the final rule by the fall of this year. >> okay. excellent. thank you very much. just quickly, restrictive housing, otherwise known as solitary confinement, outdated used far too often. we believe that the bop has been dragging its feet to reform this restrictive housing. in the past year, doj conducted studies and task force to improve restrictive housing yet we fail to do, what steps can

we make this more effective and improve restrictive housing policies. >> bop is committed to what you're talking about. published a rule on discipline designed on the use of restrictive housing, assigned more psychologists and deescalation training which would help to reduce the need for restrictive housing. >> excellent, thank you very much. i yield back. >> attorney general garland, if you would move the microphone closer to you, please. >> i can't move the microphone. >> mr. cline. >> thank you, mr. attorney general for being here. i listened with interest to your opening statement and i have to say, i'm concerned that your actions are speaker louder than your words especially when you say there's one set-- there's not one set of laws for

democrats and another for republicans. my constituents and many americans are watching your actions, which are speaking louder than your words when it comes to there really is a crisis of confidence in this country in your department created by the dual treatment of american citizens, depending on their viewpoints, or their political positions or their political offices, whether, you know, as your department is currently prosecuting a former president for handling classified documents. your office, and i'm assuming you personally, declined to take action against president biden for his mishandling of classified documents. i appreciate you making the report of special counsel robert hur public as historically done with every other special counsel. did you review the report prior

to its release? >> before i released it, yes, i read it before i released it. >> did you approve of the recommendation-- obviously you approved of the recommendations because you have it with within your power to prosecute, correct? >> i'm not going to comment or editorialized on the special counsel's report. i promised to release it and i released it. the report speaks for itself. and the special counsel sat for five hours' worth of testimony on the subject and any question about results he reached could have been asked. so you won't say whether you concur with the conclusion? >> i will say as i said at the time it's released i'm not going to editorialize or comment on the report, i think that's inappropriate for the attorney general. >> you won't agree that president biden would have come across to a jury as a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory? >> i'll say with respect to the report again, it's improper for

the toernl attorney general to editorialize. separately, if you're asking me about my own observations of the president. >> no, you testified about that and i heard you. >> i complete confidence. >> have you ever seen evidence of impairment in your meetings. >> i'm sorry, i testified and i'll repeat what i said. >> that's different than my question. >> i've seen the president effectively guide members of the department of his cabinet and his military. >> you won't say you've ever seen impairment on his part? >> the president doesn't have impairment. >> you've never seen any. >> i don't know how many ways to say this. i completely reject your-- >> and 9 recordings of the president's ghost writer.

has the white house been permitted access to recordings? >> i don't know what mr. hur provided, but expect that the answer is yes. >> so they have access. let me let you know, well, maybe you're aware, how many times the judiciary committee has asked for those documents or asked for those recordings? >> i know that the judiciary committee has asked. we've sent a letter explaining our position with respect to the recordings three times. we have provided transcripts of the recordings, mr. hur has testified about his observations during his interviews. these are interviews of the witness. it is longstanding practice of the justice department to keep these kinds of documents confidential in order to not chill future investigations. >> confidential you provided copies to the white house. >> this is the witness. the witness's own. >> do you normally provide witnesses in investigations access to their recordings if they're interviewed? >> sometimes we do, sometimes we don't, but here there are, as you well know, there are

privileges to be-- with respect to national security r security and other information that were addressed in those recordings and in the interviews and transcripts themselves had to be cleared through inner agency process. you know that because we said that in the letter to the committee. >> in my 20 seconds i want to ask about something you've answered congressman clyde, said following the court's rulings that i.d. to vote can be an undue burden, do you know of an example or is there any case in which you would consider a photo i.d. to not be an undue burden, say if it's a free i.d. everybody. >> i.d., you have a very good example. there was the case in which the supreme court noted that there was free i.d.'s completely available to everyone without discrimination and those circumstances, the court