Merrick Garland to battle right-wing terrorism after career prosecuting extremism

Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's nominee to serve as attorney general, will face the peril of resurgent right-wing terrorism, according to a new report by The New York Times.

Garland, who oversaw the Oklahoma City bombing case for the Justice Department, said it was "the most important thing I have ever done in my life."

But he will have far more on his plate if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The Times noted that "Judge Garland's experience prosecuting domestic terrorism cases in the 1990s was the formative work of his career, from the nuances of federal statutes down to the feeling of broken glass crunching beneath his dress shoes. The man has now met the moment. At his Senate confirmation hearings starting on Monday, he will almost certainly be asked about the Department of Homeland Security's warning that the United States faces a growing threat from "violent domestic extremists" and that the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol may not have been an isolated episode."

Garland also supervised the Unabomber case and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing.

"Judge Garland will take over what prosecutors are calling the biggest, most complex investigation in Justice Department history, the Capitol assault that led to the second impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. So far there have been at least 230 arrests connected to the riot, but federal officials are investigating as many as 500 people in all. Prosecutors have brought five major cases involving 11 members of the Proud Boys, a far-right nationalist group that was out in force at the Capitol. Nine members of the Oath Keepers militia group have been charged with conspiring to stop the congressional certification of Mr. Biden's victory," the newspaper noted.

In his prepared opening remarks for his confirmation hearing, Garland is expected to say, ""One-hundred and fifty years after the department's founding, battling extremist attacks on our democratic institutions also remains central to its mission."