Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland on Thursday said he would oversee an independent Department of Justice if confirmed by the Senate. Garland recounted during a press conference how one of his first jobs was assisting then-Attorney General Ben Civiletti decades ago. Civiletti sought to turn “norms that would ensure the departments’ adherence to the rule of law” into written policies, Garland said. “Those policies included: guaranteeing the independence of the department from partisan influence and law enforcement investigations, regulating communications with the White House, establishing guidelines for FBI investigations, ensuring respect for the professionalism of DOJ’s lawyers and agents, and setting our principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Those policies became part of the DNA of every career lawyer and agent,” he said. “If confirmed, my mission as Attorney General will be to reaffirm those policies as the principles upon which the department operates. As Ed Levi said at …