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Garland has a tense exchange with Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie over the 6 January riot at the US Capitol and whether there were federal agents present that day.

Massie's questions are prompted by the indictment of Ray Epps, who has been accused of being a federal agent by online conspiracy theorists.

Epps, 62, was pictured outside Congress on 6 January 2021, but says he did not go in.

He was captured on several videos around the time of the unrest and in one, from the night of 5 January 2021, he was seen shouting and urging people to enter the Capitol building.

"The FBI has said Mr Epps was not an employee or an informant," he says.

Republican Thomas Massie has his turn, and he's accusing the Justice Department of carrying out "mafia tactics".

He says the department has opened "not one but two investigations" into billionaire Elon Musk, but claims that Mark Zuckerberg was not investigated for spending "$400 million in 2020 tilting the elections secretly for Democrats".

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donated around $400 million to non-profit organizations to help aid local governments in carrying out elections in 2020.

Massie also asks Garland if he is in "contempt of Congress" for declining to comment on ongoing DOJ investigations.

"Congressman, I have the greatest respect for Congress," Garland says in response.

Responding to a question from California Democrat Adam Schiff, Garland says that Donald Trump was wrong when he suggested that he was told to indict President Trump.

He says the decision to indict was made by special counsel Jack Smith.

With regards to the investigation into Hunter Biden, Garland again said that some lawmakers have expressed a desire and actual assistance that special counsel Davis Weiss remain in his position, as he did.

"That was exactly the right decision," Schiff said. "I appreciate you doing the right thing".

Anthony Zurcher
At the House Judiciary Committee hearing

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Democrats frequently condemned “what-aboutism” – pointing to alleged incidents and infractions by individuals of the opposite party as evidence of political hypocrisy - when Republicans used it to defend Donald Trump from his critics.

More than an hour into this Judiciary Committee hearing, it is a Democrat that employs the strategy in defence of his party’s president.

Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia points out that Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, made billions of dollars from business dealings with Saudi Arabia – and suggests that he may have benefitted from his family connections to power.

Why aren’t the Republicans investigating that, Johnson muses.

From a criminal investigation standpoint, what-aboutism is pointless. But as a political strategy, it is a favourite strategy.

We're back from a short recess and it's Democrat Hank Johnson with the first question.

He's just walked lawmakers through Garland's long career - including time as a court of appeals judge - before seemingly taking aim at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Thomas faced a backlash this year after he failed to report luxury trips funded by wealthy Republican donors.

"As a judge you never had the occasion to receive a private jet travel to an exotic location by a corporate billionaire, did you?" Johnson asks Garland.

"No," Garland says.

Garland adds that he does not "want to answer these hypothetical questions, but "What I would say is always as a judge - and I've said this before and quite publicly long ago - I always held myself to the highest standards of ethical responsibility".

The Republican-majority committee is focused almost exclusively on President Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

His first name has come up more than 30 times so far, and will likely be repeated many more when the committee returns from its short break.

The name of the special counsel investigating allegations of Hunter Biden's wrongdoings, David Weiss, has been invoked more than 70 times.

Republicans are questioning Garland about how Weiss is carrying out the investigation, how he was appointed a US Attorney, and how he has communicated with the justice department.

Anthony Zurcher
At the House Judiciary Committee hearing

Matt Gaetz is one of the most fiery Republicans in the House – a constant thorn in the side of even his own party. His rapid-fire questioning of Merrick Garland lives up to this reputation.

Mr Garland, who served as a federal judge for much of his career, counters these questions slowly and in a steady voice, which seems to only push Gaetz into more a more animated interrogation.

The challenge, however, is that peppering Garland with so many questions allows the attorney general to pick and choose what to answer - and he avoids some of the stickiest and most politically treacherous ones about Hunter Biden’s business dealings as the Florida congressman’s time runs out.

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A brief interruption now as lawmakers on the House committee argue over Matt Gaetz' line of questioning.

As we just reported, Gaetz interrupted Garland on several occasions as he tried to answer questions, leading to one lawmaker accusing the Republican congressman of "badgering the witness".

"Let him answer the question," another lawmaker says.

Florida Republican Matt Gaetz - a staunch Trump ally - begins his questioning by asking Garland whether "anyone has told President Biden to knock it off with Hunter?"

In response to the question - variations of which Gaetz asks multiple times - Garland responds that the DOJ acts independently of what happens in the "outside world".

He repeatedly attempts to answer the question, only to be interrupted by Gaetz.

Garland says he does "not intend to interfere" into the Hunter Biden investigation which is under the purview of special counsel David Weiss.

Gaetz's questions come thick and fast - on the Hunter Biden investigation, on China and North Korea, and on the investigation into 6 January, referencing the possibility - for which no evidence exists - that the DOJ "lost" federal assets the day of the riot.

Garland is asked about the Justice Department's handling of the fentanyl epidemic.

The question comes after the US last year had more than 100,000 deaths from drug overdoses across the country for the first time ever.

You can learn more about how the US is grappling with the epidemic here.

In response, Garland says the DOJ is fighting the "fentanyl scourge" in "every possible way, starting with the precursors in China to the labs in Mexico to the cartels that are bringing the drugs into the United States".

"We will continue to do that with every resource that Congress gives us," he adds.

For a very brief moment, the hearing pivots away from Hunter Biden questions.

Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, asks if there is enough evidence to suggest that lawmakers contributed to an "onslaught" of threats against federal officials.

She cites documents from law enforcement officials who expressed concern about threats against prosecutors and officers in recent years.

Garland responds by confirming that threats are rising and saying that "we must not allow this to happen".

"They will continue to do their jobs, but the idea of threatening their safety or that of their families is just difficult," he says.

The attorney general adds that additional steps have been taken to protect agents.

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An exchange between committee chair Jim Jordan and Merrick Garland becomes heated.

During questioning, Jordan raised his voice and interrupted Garland on several occasions, accusing the Justice Department of slow-walking the investigation into Hunter Biden.

Jordan also raised accusations about Hunter Biden's involvement with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. You can learn more about that matter here.

Garland, meanwhile, said he'd "tried to make clear that I don't know the specifics of the investigation" and that "much of what you are describing occurred during the Trump administration".

As the hearing began, Merrick Garland appeared to choke up as he spoke of family members who perished in the Holocaust before coming to the US - something he said had inspired him to pursue a legal career.

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So far, Garland has avoided a question from lawmakers about his interactions with David Weiss, the special counsel in charge of the Hunter Biden probe.

"Your testimony is you have not had any discussions with Mr. Weiss about this matter - under oath?", a lawmaker asks him.

Garland says his testimony "under oath" is that he "promised the Senate I would not intrude" in the Hunter Biden investigation.

"I do not intend to discuss internal Justice Department operations whether or not I had them," he says.

We've been hearing a lot so far about David Weiss, the special counsel with additional powers appointed to oversee the investigation into Hunter Biden.

Weiss, a federal prosecutor who had already filed criminal charges in the case, was appointed by Garland at his own request in August.

The new designation provided him with extra resources to pursue the investigation and to potentially bring further charges.

Garland said the special counsel would produce a report when his work was done, and that the justice department would make as much of it public as was possible.

"The appointment of Mr Weiss reinforces for the American people the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters," Mr Garland said at the time.

Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump to become the US attorney in Delaware in 2018. Not long after, in 2019, he opened an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by Hunter Biden.

Read more about Weiss' appointment here.

Anthony Zurcher
At the House Judiciary Committee hearing

An early goal for Republicans in the congressional hearing has been to pin Merrick Garland on what involvement, if any, he has had with the investigation into Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

When asked if he had spoken with anyone at FBI headquarters about the case, Garland dodged.

The attorney general has repeatedly said that he gave special counsel David Weiss full authority to investigate the president’s son independent of the Justice Department oversight.

But that won’t be enough for Republicans, who have heard testimony from government whistleblowers who have complained the investigation moved too slowly.

During his opening remarks, Garland attempted to clarify the DOJ's relationship with the White House, adding that the department's job was not just to do what's "politically convenient".

Representative Mike Johnson's questioning of Garland included a tough exchange about whether he discussed the investigation into Hunter Biden with the FBI.

Garland initially responded that he "did not believe" he had, although he said it was "appropriate" for special counsel David Weiss to have done so.

The attorney general also pushed back forcefully on Johnson's suggestion that the process of charging Biden was "cumbersome" - and said that any whistleblowers who said that was the case were expressing an opinion, rather than fact.

The justice department's investigation into Biden will feature heavily in today's hearing.

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Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel in August to investigate Hunter Biden.

The appointment followed the June collapse of a plea deal on the tax and gun charges that the president's son is facing.

The charges against Mr Biden stem from October 2018, when he was struggling with a crack cocaine addiction. During this time, he bought a gun, reportedly on a whim, in October 2018, about two months after completing another stint in rehab.

But Mr Biden allegedly lied on the federal firearm application form that he was not using illegal drugs at the time, for which he now faces two felony counts punishable by up to 10 years each.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Mr Biden would have been forced to admit to illegal possession of a firearm and agree to drug treatment and monitoring to avoid a felony charge and potential imprisonment.

He would also have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts for failing to pay his taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.

He is now expected to plead not guilty, his lawyer has said. Read more about the charges here.

We have the first question for Garland from Republican congressman Mike Johnson, and he wants to know about the Hunter Biden probe.

"Has anyone from the White House provided direction at any time to you personally, or to any senior officials at the [Justice Department] regarding how the Hunter Biden investigation was to be carried out?" Johnson asks.

"No," Garland responds.

Garland adds he made it clear to the Senate that he would not intrude in any investigation into the president's son.