Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday told Congress he doesn’t take orders from President Biden or Congress as he defended his department’s seemingly disparate handling of investigations into Hunter Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“We will not be intimidated,” Mr. Garland told the House Judiciary Committee. “We will do our jobs free from outside influence and we will not back down from defending our democracy.”

He kicked off the hearing with a defiant statement of independence and an explanation of his department’s work on basic law enforcement, national security and combating Russian, Chinese and North Korean adversaries.

And he sought to defuse accusations that he’s overseen a politicized operation that went easy on Hunter Biden while taking an unduly aggressive approach to Mr. Trump.

“We apply the same laws for everyone,” he said. “Our job is to pursue justice without fear or favor. Our job is not to do what is politically convenient. Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress or from anyone else about who or what we criminally investigate.”

Mr. Garland said he is serving as attorney general because he feels he’s repaying a debt for his family, which escaped the Holocaust and reached a welcoming U.S.

He also delivered a warning about the consequences of some of the criticism of his personnel.

“What is dangerous is when anyone singles out a career prosecutor or a career FBI agent, and we know as a matter of fact that kind of singling out has led to threats,” he said.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.