After a tumultuous tenure clouded by two failed criminal prosecutions against the incoming president, Attorney General Merrick Garland is leaving the Justice Department the same way he came in: trying to defend it against political attacks.

Republicans roasted Attorney General Merrick Garland on social media after a video of him doing a victory lap while leaving the Department of Justice became viral. In the clip, which was posted on Friday via X, a celebratory Garland walked and thanked cheering department staffers while the outgoing AG exited out of the building.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Attorney General Merrick Garland reacts during a farewell ceremony at the Department of Justice, Thursday ...

Social media users tore into U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland as video on X, formerly Twitter, showed him leaving the Department of Justice building for the last time on Friday.

Within days of becoming attorney general, he assembled his deputies and told them to turn over every Trump rock. Blame a lumbering system—and an electorate that didn’t care.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said "norms" determine the principles upon which the Justice Department operates while bidding farewell to staffers after leading it over the past four years.

In a farewell speech to Justice Department staffers, outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appeared to rebuke attacks from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies who have "wrongly criticized" the department as politically motivated.

Garland was too timid. By waiting to go after Trump aggressively he gave the authoritarian movement the ability to run out the clock, avoid accountability, and return to power. Garland should have come out of the chute at 200 mph and taken dead aim at Trump’s criminality from Day 1.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee say Attorney General Merrick Garland should "take all necessary steps" to ensure the rest of the special counsel's report is released before Trump takes office.

In his farewell address, Attorney General Merrick Garland sought to encourage an embattled DOJ facing uncertainty and to unabashedly defend his tenure and their work.

Attorney General Merrick Garland gave a tearful goodbye while warning of the risks of “grave injustice” for those who abuse the Justice Department’s power. Much of

My firm, the Livingston Group, was subjected to your unjust persecution. We’d like an apology.