ATTORNEY GENERAL VOWS TO PURSUE JAN. 6 INQUIRY
‘We will follow the facts wherever they lead,’ he says as nation prepares to commemorate anniversary
Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to hold all of those responsible for the Jan. 6 riot accountable — whether they were at the U.S. Capitol or committed other crimes surrounding the day’s events — saying investigators are methodically building more complicated and serious cases and would prosecute people “at any level.”
“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” Garland said Wednesday, speaking in the Justice Department’s Great Hall. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”
Garland’s remarks came on the eve of the anniversary of the attack. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, will lead Congress today in a day of remembrance at the Capitol, with President Joe Biden speaking in the morning, and historians and lawmakers sharing remembrances throughout the day.
Garland is facing intensifying pressure to focus more acutely on the actions of former President Donald Trump and his associates. Debate has raged over whether Trump could be charged with a crime, and, if not, what that might mean for future transfers of power.
The attorney general did not name the former president or those close to him, and many of his statements were common-sense assurances that could be said of any investigation. Still, they seemed designed to address complaints that the department was not taking a broad enough view of possible crimes connected to Jan. 6, or looking at high-profile enough targets, including Trump.
“We build investigations by laying a foundation. We resolve more straightforward cases first be
cause they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases,” Garland said, adding later, “There cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless.”
A growing chorus of public officials, former military leaders and others have suggested Trump may have committed a crime by encouraging the rioters or pushing efforts to overturn the results of the election.
But some legal analysts say charges for Trump and others seem unlikely, given that public evidence has not pointed to a grand conspiracy that involved the president or his top allies directing rioters to breach the Capitol.
A Washington Post review of court records last year found that the vast majority of those charged federally were not known to be part of far-right groups or premeditated conspiracies to attack the Capitol.
Instead, they were mostly everyday Americans, including community leaders and small-business owners, who appeared to believe Trump’s claims of election fraud and gathered in Washington to protest or try to stop the congressional certification of Biden’s victory.
“There’s no grand conspiracy that the FBI found, despite arresting hundreds of people, investigating thousands,” said Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor.
In his speech, Garland sought to frame the Jan. 6 investigation — the biggest in the FBI’s history, in terms of the number of defendants and suspects — in the larger context of criminal prosecutions, in which the severity of charges and jail sentences are based on the harm caused by specific conduct, and the speed with which individuals admit their guilt.
A number of federal judges overseeing such cases have publicly questioned prosecutorial decisions — wondering aloud whether the department was going too easy on some defendants, or criticizing department officials for saying too much about the cases.
Federal prosecutors announced last week that they have charged more than 725 people with assault, resisting arrest and other crimes in connection with the events of Jan. 6. About 165 people have pleaded guilty, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The FBI is still seeking to identify and arrest more than 200 additional suspects from that day, including an individual who placed pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters.
In his speech, Garland ticked through the damage the rioters inflicted: attacking officers with pipes, poles and chemical agents, and destroying journalists’ equipment. He read the names of five police officers who responded that day and have since died, and called for a moment of silence in their memories.
Garland’s speech also ventured beyond the events of Jan. 6. He spent significant time addressing threats against election workers and others, saying the Justice Department would prosecute those who make illegal threats but also would work within the bounds of the First Amendment.
“The Department has been clear that expressing a political belief or ideology, no matter how vociferously, is not a crime,” Garland said.
He said the department had charged more people in criminal threats cases in 2021 than in any year in at least the last five. But officials have also struggled to make cases; for example, a task force formed last summer to investigate threats against election workers has yet to make an arrest.
In the meantime, the Biden administration is examining how to better guard the country against spasms of politically motivated violence.
Details shared by senior administration officials include new training exercises and regular cross-agency meetings to compare information.
Liz Sherwood-Randall, Biden’s homeland security adviser, said that since the inauguration, “we have worked hard to improve coordination, informationsharing, planning and preparation for a range of events and contingencies to ensure public safety. We are stronger today than we were a year ago — though we can never be complacent about the threats that we face from abroad and at home.”
Experts caution that the next such crises may not be in Washington or involve organized groups.
The Washington Post has catalogued many instances in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 when red flags warning of violence were dismissed by the FBI. The Post examined how Capitol Police officers were unprepared for a mob assault on the legislative branch.
A year later, officials say the threat picture for the area is much less alarming.
In a statement, the FBI said the agency “currently does not have any information indicating specific or credible threats regarding the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. As always, we remind members of the public to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”
In an effort to keep senior officials on top of security threats in Washington, Biden’s National Security Council oversees weekly discussions among federal law enforcement agencies to discuss planned events such as protests and any related information that points to possible violence.
Officials review what permits have been granted, threat reports within the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and any indicators of concern — such as travel reservations or hotel bookings.
The officials insisted that the administration aims to encourage free speech, while also being prepared for the possibility that such events can devolve into violence or attract people intent on perpetrating violence against protesters.