Attorney General Merrick Garland, facing the prospect of a contempt vote in Congress, lashed out at House Republicans today, accusing his critics of seeking to undermine the rule of law, peddling conspiracy theories and spreading falsehoods.

The usually mild-mannered Garland pushed back against the false accusation that the Justice Department was somehow behind the prosecution and subsequent conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal. The case was brought by Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who, as a local prosecutor, is not under the control of Biden or his administration.

“That conspiracy theory is an attack on the judicial process itself,” Garland said in an opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee.

His remarks amounted to a vigorous defense of the department as Trump and his allies have escalated their attacks on law enforcement after his conviction in Manhattan court last week and as the former president has been shadowed by other criminal cases.

Among Trump’s more extraordinary claims in recent weeks was the highly misleading statement that the Biden administration was prepared to kill him when the FBI conducted a court-ordered search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022 to retrieve classified documents.

“This is dangerous,” Garland said in response to a question by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., about the consequences of such an assertion. The claim, the attorney general said, distorted a standard Justice Department use-of-force policy that had also applied to a search of President Joe Biden’s Delaware home.

“It raises the threats of violence against prosecutors and career agents,” Garland said. “The allegation is false.”

The committee and the House Oversight Committee recommended last month holding Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of interviews that Robert K. Hur, the special counsel, conducted with Biden last year. Hur ultimately cleared Biden of criminal wrongdoing over his retention of classified material, despite faulting his memory and handling of sensitive documents. By contrast, prosecutors accused Trump of risking national security secrets by hoarding government records at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Certain members of this committee and the Oversight Committee are seeking contempt as a means of obtaining — for no legitimate purpose — sensitive law enforcement information that could harm the integrity of future investigations,” Garland said. He has argued that the recordings could be altered and used in pro-Trump political ads.

“I will not be intimidated,” he continued. “And the Justice Department will not be intimidated.”

Last month, Biden asserted executive privilege to deny House Republicans access to the recordings, denouncing their effort as a political stunt with dire implications for federal law enforcement.

It came two months after a transcript was made public.

The move was intended to shield the department, and Garland, from prosecution if House Republicans voted to hold him in contempt. They have yet to schedule a floor vote.

Garland said at the time that the bid by Republicans was the latest in “a series of unprecedented and, frankly, unfounded attacks” on the department and the rule of law.

Garland told Republicans today that those efforts were feeding “heinous” threats against individual career agents and prosecutors.

“These attacks have not, and they will not, influence our decision-making,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.