Merrick Garland Says Jan. 6 Hearings Uncovered Things Justice Department Criminal Probe Didn’t Know

Attorney General Merrick Garland told NBC News’ Lester Holt that the blockbuster Jan. 6 hearings have turned up evidence that the criminal probe didn’t know, and vice versa.

In an exclusive interview with Holt which aired on Tuesday night’s episode of NBC Nightly News, Garland dropped intriguing tea leaves for those who are breathlessly trying to figure out whether he’ll charge former President Donald Trump over the attack on the Capitol, and when he might do that.

Much of what Garland said reiterated things he has said before, like his assertion that “We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding Jan. 6,” but he dropped a few new bread crumbs.

Holt began the interview by asking about the January 6 hearings, and Garland heaped praise on the committee, said they’ve uncovered things his prosecutors didn’t know (and vice-versa), and that his department is “moving urgently”:

LESTER HOLT: Let’s start off and talk about January 6th. We’ve just watched weeks of some pretty horrific testimony about what led up to January 6th and what happened that day. Just, as an American, can you tell me what your impression was of what we heard?

MERRICK GARLAND: It’s an important part of democracy, that every American recognizes the truth of what happened on January 6th and the area of time surrounding it. I think that this is an important part that we not downgrade or suppress how important that day was and I think that the hearings did an extremely good job of reminding us and for people who didn’t know in the first place, telling us how important that day was. And what a risk it meant for our democracy.

HOLT: Is the committee offering you anything in terms of an informal road map? Are you learning things you didn’t know?

GARLAND: The Justice Department has been doing the most wide-ranging investigation in its history. And the committee is doing an enormously wide-ranging investigation as well. It is inevitable that there will be things that they find before we have found them. And there is, it’s inevitable that there will be things we find that they haven’t found. The Justice Department has from the beginning been moving urgently to learn everything we can about this period, and to bring to justice everybody who was criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, which is the fundamental element of our democracy.

HOLT: You said you’re moving quickly at this. There’s been a lot of criticism, a lot of pressure that the DOJ is kind of behind the power curve here, behind the committee, not moving quickly enough on what appears to be solid evidence in some cases.

GARLAND: As I said, we have been moving urgently since the very beginning, we have a huge number of prosecutors and agents working on these cases. It is inevitable in this kind of investigation that there’ll be speculation about what we are doing, who we are investigating, what our theories are. The reason there is this speculation and uncertainty is that it’s a fundamental tenet of what we do as prosecutors and investigators is to do it outside of the public eye. We do that for two important reasons. One is to protect the civil liberties of people and events that we’re investigating. And the second is to ensure the success and the integrity of our investigation.

HOLT: Would a criminal referral from the committee carry a lot of weight, would it be welcomed by the Department of Justice?

GARLAND: So I think that’s totally up to the committee. We will have the evidence that the committee has presented and whatever evidence it gives us, I don’t think that the nature of how they style, the manner in which information is provided, is a particular significance from any legal point of view. That’s not to downgraded or to or disparage it. It’s just that’s not what, that’s not the issue here. We have our own investigation, pursuing through the principles of prosecution.

Watch above via NBC News.