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Garland to condemn escalating attacks and threats against Justice Dept. employees
Attorney General Merrick Garland is condemning “an escalation of attacks” against the Justice Department and pushing back against what he says are the “conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods…and threats of actual violence” that endanger the department’s employees.
Garland’s defense of the federal employees who work for the Justice Department will be part of a speech he’s delivering to staff Thursday.
Billed as an address about the department’s norms, the attorney general will praise the efforts of federal prosecutors and investigators and stress the independence of the Justice Department.
“Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics,” Garland is expected to say, according to excerpts of his remarks obtained by CBS News.
Garland’s comments come as the presidential election enters its final stretch, nearly four years after the tumultuous presidential transition amid the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The public servants of the Department of Justice do not bend to politics,” the attorney general is expected to say. “We will fiercely protect the independence of this Department from political interference in our criminal investigations.”
The Justice Department has weathered heavy criticism from Republicans and Democrats for its handling of various politically sensitive probes, including investigations into former President Donald Trump, President Biden and the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
Trump was charged in two cases by special counsel Jack Smith — one for alleged conduct tied to his efforts to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election, and another now-dismissed case brought for alleged mishandling of classified information. He and his allies have accused the government of “weaponizing” the Justice Department against them.
Another special counsel, Robert Hur, investigated President Joe Biden after classified documents from his time as vice president were found in his private residence and personal office. Hur opted not to charge the president and notably characterized Mr. Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” a description that prompted an outcry from some Democrats. And Hunter Biden, the president’s son, pleaded guilty last week to numerous counts of tax fraud filed by a third special counsel, David Weiss.
Because of the political nature of the probes, Garland elevated all three men to special counsel roles and has said they’ve operated independently. Still, they’ve faced setbacks.
One setback came in July, when the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that afforded former presidents — including Trump – immunity from prosecution for “official acts” taken while in office. The case was brought by Trump as a challenge to Smith’s election-related indictment against the former president.
Some of the alleged conduct the high court ruled to be out of bounds for federal prosecutors involved Trump’s interactions with Justice Department officials in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
“We will not allow this Department to be used as a political weapon,” Garland is expected to say.
There has been an increase in threats against Justice Department employees and other law enforcement officials, members of Congress and their staff in recent years. In June, the attorney general highlighted in congressional testimony “a worrying spike in threats of violence against those who serve the public.”
“Those threats have targeted members of Congress, police officers, judges, jurors, election workers, and the Justice Department’s own employees,” he said.
The attorney general is highlighting these threats again Thursday, against the backdrop of a tight presidential race and a fraught political landscape.
“It is dangerous to target and intimidate individual employees of this Department simply for doing their jobs,” Garland will tell the workforce. “It is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law…You deserve better.”
CBS News
Man dies after being “buried under hot asphalt” while trying to fix dump truck in Mississippi
Police in Mississippi’s capital said a man died Monday when he was trying to repair a dump truck and asphalt poured onto him.
Darrell Sheriff, 41, was underneath the truck working on a hydraulic line when the tailgate opened and asphalt fell on him, Jackson Police Department said in a statement. Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade told reporters that officers found Sheriff, who was a private contractor, “buried under hot asphalt.”
“It appeared to be some type of malfunction with his dump truck,” Wade said, adding it was a “horrific situation.”
The incident occurred at AJ Materials at around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, CBS affiliate WJTV reported.
#BREAKINGNEWS: A man died after he was buried under hot asphalt in Jackson. https://t.co/26CHfWF3XA pic.twitter.com/W45ifixH9u
— WJTV 12 News (@WJTV) November 4, 2024
Wade said people on scene tried to help Sheriff and “he tried to fight to make it through those injuries but it was just too enormous for him to survive.”
The police chief said the incident left witnessess and family members traumatized.
Wade said that family members said Sheriff was a “good, hardworking family man who just trying to make a living.”
The police department classified the death as an accident.
Election Day 2024 is expected to bring out tens of millions of people to their polling places, and many may also want to know what’s open or closed if they need to run errands, like shopping or getting to the post office.
While the Tuesday after the first Monday in November is designated for federal, state and local general elections, it is not a federal holiday. But some state offices will be closed, while workers in 28 states are guaranteed voting leave to take time off from work to cast their ballots.
That may leave some Americans to question whether they’ll find their local stores, banks, post offices, DMV and other services open on November 5. At the same time, some schools are closed on Election Day, partly as some educational facilities double as polling stations.
Are banks open on Election Day 2024?
Yes, banks and ATMs will be open on Election Day, given that it’s not a federal holiday, nor observed by the Federal Reserve system.
Wells Fargo, Citi and other major banks will be open on Nov. 5, according to their schedules. However, those banks and others will be closed Nov. 11, due to Veterans Day, which is a federal holiday.
Is the Post Office open on Election Day 2024?
Yes, the U.S. Postal Service will be open on Nov. 5 because it isn’t a federal holiday.
The USPS will also be delivering ballots mailed ahead of Election Day, although the postal service recommended that people who are voting by mail post their ballot by Oct. 29, or last Tuesday, to ensure timely delivery.
USPS workers will be delivering regular residential and business mail on Nov. 5, while its stores and other locations will be operating with their normal hours.
Is the DMV open on Election Day 2024?
Some states recognize Election Day as a public holiday, which means some offices there, including Department of Motor Vehicle offices, may be closed on November 5. U.S. states where DMV locations will be closed on Nov. 5 include:
- Delaware
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Other municipal; offices could also be closed in these and other states or cities that observe Election Day as a holiday. For instance, New York state and city courts will be closed on Nov. 5, as well as New York City offices.
Are any retailers closed on Election Day 2024?
Stores are generally open on Election Day given that it’s not a federal holiday. Among those that will be open are Costco, Walmart and Target.
However, some stores may have modified hours to accommodate workers who are voting. For instance, Bath & Body Works locations will open at noon on Nov. 5, rather than the retailer’s regular 10 a.m. opening time.
Are bars and liquor stores open on Election Day 2024?
Yes, bars and liquor stores are open on Election Day, although that wasn’t always the case in some states.
South Carolina repealed its ban on liquor sales on Election Day in 2014, with the state joining the rest of the nation in permitting spirits and other drinks to be sold on voting day.
That ban, which dated to the 1800s, was designed to reduce bribery and corruption during elections, Reuters reported. Election Day bans on alcohol sales were once common in the U.S. because of fears that politicians would buy votes by providing drinks, according to the New York Times
Nogales, Mexico — Migrants from all corners of the globe, from Latin America to far-flung countries in Africa and Asia, come to a shelter in this northern Mexican city hoping to enter the U.S. and escape economic hardship and, in some cases, deadly danger.
“They tried to kill us,” said Rosa Benalcazar, a migrant staying at the House of Mercy and all Nations, one of the biggest shelters for migrants on the Mexican side of the Arizona-Mexico border.
Benalcazar said she journeyed to the U.S. after criminal gangs threatened to harm her and her family in Ecuador, which has seen record numbers of its citizens flee amid mounting violence and insecurity.
CBS News
Like the other migrants at the shelter in Nogales, Benalcazar has been trying to get an appointment to enter America through a U.S. government phone app known as CBP One. Designed to discourage illegal border crossings, the Biden administration program allows migrants in Mexico to request a time to be processed at a legal entry point. The wait times, however, can extend for months due to an extraordinarily high demand.
“I haven’t had luck,” Benalcazar said in Spanish, noting she’s been attempting to secure a CBP One appointment each day for seven months straight.
Sister Lika Macias, the shelter’s director, said many migrants feel that luck may soon become harder to find, given the presidential election in the U.S.
“The politics in the United States,” affect “migration policy” at the U.S.-Mexico border, Macias said.
Vice President Harris has promised to continue current Biden administration policies that sharply limit asylum for those who cross the southern border without waiting for a CBP One appointment. But former President Donald Trump has vowed to seal the U.S.-Mexico border altogether, including by ending the CBP One process and other programs that allow migrants to enter the country lawfully.
“There’s a lot of concern”
On a recent morning, immigration attorney Alba Jaramillo sought to ease the confusion and anxiety among those at the shelter. The American election could go “either way” and there’s no telling who will win, she told a group of migrants, most of them mothers with children.
Jaramillo urged the migrants to be patient and to avoid listening to social media rumors about a sudden, overnight U.S. policy change.
“There’s a lot of concern about what’s going to happen,” said Jaramillo, the co-director of the Immigration Law and Justice Network, a pro-immigrant group. “They’re very scared. They think that the asylum system is going to close.”
Jaramillo said she also urged migrants to follow the legal process and refrain from crossing the U.S. border illegally with the help of smugglers. Crossing the Arizona desert, she said, is not only dangerous, and potentially deadly, but would also disqualify migrants from asylum under an executive action by President Biden in June.
After Mr. Biden enacted those broad restrictions on asylum, illegal border crossings, which had soared to record levels late last year, plunged to a 4-year low. While unauthorized crossings have remained at that low level for the past few months, U.S. officials worry the results of the presidential election could disrupt the lull.
A Trump victory, some U.S. officials believe, could prompt large numbers of migrants to try to cross into the country illegally before he takes office in January. In addition to promising to shut down the CBP One app process, Trump has vowed to reinstate his hardline immigration policies, militarize the border and oversee the largest deportation operation in American history.
“It’s nerve-racking”
Roughly half the migrants at the shelter are children, according to Macias, the facility’s director. While their parents desperately await the results of the election, fearing dramatic changes in American border policy, the kids’ only focus is being kids.
After all, for the children, there’s little to fear at the Nogales shelter, where they can learn English and mathematics and enjoy outdoor activities like soccer and basketball, as well as occasional treats.
Still, parents like Areli Doral, a young mother from Guerrero, Mexico, remain deeply concerned about what could happen following the American election.
“Yes, I’m scared,” Doral said in Spanish, while holding her two-year-old son, Edgar.
“If they close the (CBP One) application, what are we going to do? We already waited 10 months,” she said. “It’s nerve-racking.”
Doral said returning to her hometown is not an option, noting it would be dangerous for her son.
“There’s a lot of crime,” she said. “It’s become more difficult where I’m from.”
