Trump campaign blasts Garland over DOJ 'witch hunt' as he defends agency

The Trump campaign on Thursday excoriated Attorney General Merrick Garland in the wake of a speech he gave defending the impartiality of the Department of Justice.

Garland on Thursday insisted that "public servants of the Department of Justice do not bend to politics" and vowed to protect the DOJ from efforts to co-opt it for political purposes.

“Comrade Kamala Harris has weaponized the DOJ to target her political opponent, President Trump, in an unconstitutional and unprecedented Witch Hunt," Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement. "The disgraceful conduct of Attorney General Merrick Garland has done tremendous damage to a once great institution."

"Using phony charges to interfere with the presidential election on behalf of the Democrat Party has to be stopped and those driving these Hoaxes have to be held accountable," he continued. "Only President Trump can clean up the Harris-Biden disaster and Make America Great Again.”

Trump has long insisted that the myriad criminal cases against him, including two from special counsel Jack Smith, are part of a broader political witch hunt designed to derail his presidential campaign.