It protects you both personally. Is that a conflict of interest?

The Justice Department is a fundamental institution of our democracy. People depend on us to

ensure that our investigations and our prosecutions are conducted according

to the facts and the law and without political issues.

We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests.

But this is not one.

To the contrary, this is one that would harm our ability

in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations.

Now, there have been a series of unprecedented and frankly unfounded attacks on the justice department.

This request, this effort to use contempt as a method of obtaining our sensitive law enforcement files

is just the most recent.

The effort to threaten, to defund our investigations

and the way in which there are contributions

to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk.

These are wrong.

Look, the only thing I can do is continue to do the right thing.

I will protect this building and its people.

Thank you.

I want to respond.

Go ahead. You can answer this just now, but I was wondering like, you know, what this combined with the efforts to defund going to

this combined with the efforts to defund Jack Smith

and the other attacks on Biden administration

...