Biden AG Merrick Garland Weighs in On Blockbuster Hearings: ‘I Can Assure You That The January 6 Prosecutors Are Watching’
Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke at length about the blockbuster Jan. 6 hearings, and told reporters — perhaps ominously — that “the January 6 prosecutors are watching.”
Hearings of the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol have dominated the news cycle and drawn tens of millions of viewers since they began last Thursday, and have prompted a new round of optimism from people who would like to see former President Donald Trump prosecuted criminally over the attack.
The Justice Department held a press conference on Monday to announce charges against alleged gun trafficker Demontre Hackworth, during which several reporters asked AG Garland about the hearings. His responses, although cautious, could fuel the optimism of Trump opponents looking for tea leaves to read.
CNN Justice Correspondent Evan Perez asked Garland “whether you’ve had a chance to look at the hearings or watch the hearings on Capitol Hill by the Jan. 6 Committee, and if you’ve learned anything, perhaps, that could be useful in the Justice Department’s work.”
“So I am watching, and I will be watching all the hearings, although I may not be able to watch all of it live,” Garland said, and then added, “And I can assure you that the January 6 prosecutors are watching all the hearings as well.”
Garland went on to give a lengthy explanation for why he would not comment further on an ongoing investigation, which observers may also read closely for clues:
We have three reasons, they’re all, I say, coequal. One is that our investigations generally proceed quietly and in secret so that we don’t tell witnesses where we are. We don’t want them to know. We want truthful answers as we approach, we want to be able to do our subpoenas and search warrants without any risk. Eventually, that information comes out, comes out in the form of our search warrant affidavits, comes out in our orders, comes out in our pleadings, and eventually, if there are charges. But for our investigations to proceed in an efficient way, we have learned over many, many years this is the way our investigation should go.
Secondly, this is what protects the civil liberties of people who have not been charged. We don’t impugn people until we actually charge them. You know, this is part of the rule of law in America.
And third, there are the people who we have charged, as all of you well know, we’ve charged well over 800 people now in connection with January 6th. Some of them have pled, but others are facing proceedings. And for us to comment about evidence, some of which regards them, some of which regards others, could affect their cases and could affect our ability to proceed in an effective way. So that’s the reason, and it’s the reason that this has been the longstanding position of the Justice Department.
Garland was also asked if there are any legal impediments to pursuing “obstruction or conspiracy charges against people at the highest levels of this government or previous governments.”
Garland’s response was an emphatic no, “there’s nothing that’s coming in the way of our investigation.”
“We are proceeding with full urgency with respect, as I’ve said many times before, to hold all perpetrators who are criminally responsible for January 6 accountable, regardless of their level or their position and regardless of whether they were present at the events of January 6. We’re just going to follow the facts wherever they lead,” Garland said.
Watch above via The Justice Department.
