Garland calls for end to "baseless, personal and dangerous" attacks on DOJ

Attorney General Merrick Garland made an impassioned plea Tuesday for an end to attacks on the Justice Department that he said have become routine and undermine democracy in the U.S.

Why it matters: Threats against the Justice Department and its employees have ramped up in recent weeks and the department is "under attack like never before," Garland wrote in a Tuesday Washington Post op-ed.

The big picture: The latest spate of attacks go beyond mere scrutiny or criticism and are "baseless, personal and dangerous," Garland wrote.

They include threats to defund certain investigations — including those into former President Trump — as well as conspiracy theories and false claims of politicization that undermine the department's work, he added.