Attorney General Merrick B. Garland offered a fiery defense of the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden on Wednesday, telling a House committee he was “not Congress’s prosecutor” — and would not reveal details of the inquiry no matter how much pressure lawmakers applied.
During a grueling hearing before the House Judiciary Committee that foreshadowed a bruising impeachment fight ahead, Mr. Garland repeatedly refused to answer questions about internal deliberations or offer explanations for decision-making in the investigation, or the two federal indictments of former President Donald J. Trump.
House Republicans view Mr. Garland as a linchpin as they seek to bolster an impeachment inquiry into President Biden that is grounded, thus far, in inconclusive evidence that he profited from the business dealings of his son, Hunter. They have suggested Mr. Garland also might face impeachment, or contempt charges, for not fully answering their questions or providing access to documents and witnesses they have demanded.
Many of the claims and insinuations they leveled against Mr. Garland — that he is part of a coordinated Democratic effort to shield the Bidens and persecute Mr. Trump — were not supported by fact. And much of the specific evidence presented, particularly the testimony of an investigator who questioned key decisions in the Hunter Biden investigation, was given without context or acknowledgment of contradictory information.
Mr. Garland, a former federal appellate judge known for his circumspect and soft-spoken demeanor, took a more aggressive approach than during past hearings, alarmed by relentless attacks against his department. Countering their claims, he denounced escalating threats Trump supporters have directed against prosecutors, including the special counsel Jack Smith, and F.B.I. agents, prompting significant increases in security.
“Singling out individual career public servants who are just doing their jobs is dangerous — particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of public servants and their families,” said Mr. Garland, who later reacted angrily when a Republican committee member called out a career prosecutor by name.
“We will not be intimidated,” he added. “We will do our jobs free from outside influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”
It was Mr. Garland’s first appearance before the committee — stocked with far-right Trump stalwarts — since Mr. Smith brought two criminal indictments against Mr. Trump and a plea deal for Hunter Biden collapsed over the summer.
Mr. Garland’s testimony took place at what had been, in years past, a routine oversight hearing that would typically center on policy, crime, law enforcement initiatives and civil rights — issues that were largely jettisoned for attacks by Republicans and counterattacks by Democrats.
Republican committee members had signaled that they would grill Mr. Garland about his role in the later stages of a five-year investigation into Hunter Biden. It appeared to be nearing an end this summer until it imploded in July over the terms of the plea deal between Mr. Biden and the U.S. attorney for Delaware, David C. Weiss.
Republicans focused on a claim by a former Internal Revenue Service investigator, Gary Shapley, who said Mr. Weiss had suggested that he was being blocked from fully investigating the case of Mr. Biden’s taxes by being denied the power to independently pursue charges in jurisdictions outside Delaware. (Mr. Weiss and several other investigators in the case have rejected the claim.)
On Wednesday, they homed in on one of the biggest unexplained questions: why Mr. Weiss requested to be appointed special counsel in August. Mr. Garland told a Senate committee this year that as the U.S. attorney in Delaware, Mr. Weiss had all the authority he required — and had never asked for a change in status.
“Did you ask him what had changed, that made him now need to be made a special counsel?” asked Representative Dan Bishop, Republican of North Carolina.
In response, Mr. Garland cited a promise he had made to senators during his confirmation in 2021 — that he would not interfere with the work of Mr. Weiss to avoid any appearance that he was influencing an investigation into his boss’s son.
“I have kept that promise,” he said. “The way to not interfere is to not investigate an investigation.”
The theory that President Biden intervened to protect his son, widely trumpeted by House Republicans and amplified by conservative news media, is a prime motivator behind the impeachment inquiry begun by Speaker Kevin McCarthy under pressure from the right flank of his party.
Republicans see Mr. Garland as a critical link, even though he has taken steps to…
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