Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to restore public faith in the Justice Department but became a punching bag for partisans across the political spectrum.

The fast-moving legal battle over the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report played out days before Trump's second-term inauguration.

The Justice Department told a federal appeals court on Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland intends to release the January 6-related volume of its final report of special counsel Jack Smith before Donald Trump takes office.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has turned over to Attorney General Merrick Garland the completed final report on his two investigations that resulted in felony criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump,

Special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his election subversion and January 6, 2021, investigation of Donald Trump can be made public, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, while leaving in place a lower judge’s three-day hold that could give Trump time to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

Special counsel Jack Smith has been working on a final report to be completed before Trump's inauguration, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.

Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland's uprightness rescued the Department of Justice from Donald Trump's grip. But then he handed it over again.

Attorney General Merrick ... D-Md., Garland wrote that he had reviewed both volumes of Smith's report. "As I have made clear regarding every Special Counsel who has serve since I took office ...

Attorney General Merrick Garland has maneuvered President-elect Donald Trump into a precarious legal position ... to release the full volume of special counsel Jack Smith's report related to ...

In a filing, Garland outlined his intentions to publicize the final memo on Trump’s 2020 election subversion case, which constitutes “volume one” of Smith’s report, while handing the controversial details of Trump’s classified documents case to the chair and ranking member of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

The Justice Department told a federal appeals court on Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick ... of special counsel Jack Smith before Donald Trump takes office. However, Garland does not plan ...