AG Merrick Garland will defend prosecutions of Capitol rioters for their 'intolerable assault' and Dems will say their 'extremist ideology has caused violence against school boards' during his first House Judiciary Committee hearing Garland is testifying before the Democrat-led committee on Thursday morning The Judiciary committee is chaired by New York Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler Nadler's opening statement appears to take a veiled shot at his GOP colleagues By Elizabeth Elkind, Politics Reporter For Dailymail.Com Published: 14:49 BST, 21 October 2021 | Updated: 14:55 BST, 21 October 2021 Viewcomments It's Garland's first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to defend the Biden Justice Department's prosecution of January 6 participants' 'intolerable assault' on the US Capitol on Thursday. In his first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Garland will laud prosecutors' efforts in what he calls 'one of the largest and most expansive' operations in US history, according to Garland's prepared remarks obtained by Axios. Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to connect violent Trump supporters' 'extremist ideology' to the increased tensions at school boards and education settings across the country. 'The violence we witnessed that day was an intolerable assault, not only on the Capitol and the brave law enforcement personnel who sought to protect it, but also on a fundamental element of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power,' he will say. 'I have great confidence in the prosecutors who are undertaking these cases. They are doing exactly what they are expected to do: make careful determinations about the facts and the applicable law in each individual case.' To date roughly 650 people have been arrested in connection to the January 6 attack. The expansive investigation involves 55 out of 56 FBI field offices across the country. Protestors storm inside the US Capitol, Washington DC, on January 6 2021 In his own planned remarks, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) will attack the rioters themselves and take an indirect swipe at his Republican colleagues. 'This growth in extremist ideology is echoed in an epidemic of violence and intimidation directed at our health care professionals, teachers, essential workers, school board members and election workers,' Nadler is expected to say. He claimed there was a 'broader pattern' that led to increased violence across the country - from the riot, to increased attacks against Asian Americans during the pandemic, to 'the growing threats of violence against public servants.' 'The same set of individuals have leveraged the same sorts of misinformation, stoked the same sorts of grievances and shown remarkably little interest in solving our problems,' Nadler's statement read. The hearing comes at a tense moment for Garland's DOJ. House Democrats have been calling on him to enforce the January 6 committee's subpoenas, particularly after the House's planned vote to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt on Thursday. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility