MSNBC’s Neal Katyal ‘Getting Worried’ About Jan. 6 Probes, Acknowledges Merrick Garland Isn’t ‘Santa Claus’

MSNBC contributor Neal Katyal said he is “getting worried” about the Department of Justice’s probe of the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, though he acknowledged that Attorney General Merrick Garland isn’t “Santa Claus.”

During a segment on Tuesday’s Deadline: White House, a clip of Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) on CNN slamming Garland played.

“I think Merrick Garland has been extremely weak and I think there should be a lot more of the organizers of Jan. 6 that should be arrested by now,” Gallego said on CNN Newsroom.

“The problem we have right now is that we have a very obstructionist Republican party that should be part of helping us decide how to save democracy instead of trying to cover up for their crimes and you have, again, an attorney general who is, you know, feckless and has not been helpful in terms of preserving our democracy,” the congressman added.

Gallego also said, “The fact that we’re treating what happened on Jan. 6 as just another game, as in who’s winning the argument on Jan. 6 is extremely disturbing.”

In response, Katyal, who is also a former deputy solicitor general of the United States, somewhat defended the attorney general — though he expressed criticism of him:

I’ve been very patient with Merrick Garland. I used to appear before him when he was a judge and … there was no judge who was more meticulous, more brilliant, more prepared down to reading every footnote and the like. He was also a legendary Justice Department prosecutor before that.

But I’m getting worried and I agree with the congressman to a point. Like, look, nobody’s asking Merrick Garland to get up in a speech tomorrow and announce indictments against Donald Trump and his pals. I mean, Merrick Garland is the attorney general. He’s not Santa Claus.

But we are all hoping for some reassurance from him that he’s investigating all leads and all people who may be responsible. So that’s what I want to hear tomorrow. And right now, we’ve heard really crickets. Yes, the Justice Department’s been great in securing convictions of 275 people, rank-and-file people who were involved in the Jan. 6 attack, but we’ve heard silence about the higher ups.

There’s two possibilities here: One is that Garland as you were saying a moment ago, possibly too scared of his shadow and he’s doing nothing or the other is that he’s got a secret investigation and we just don’t know about it. And it’s rare to think an investigation of this magnitude could be kept secret, but I suppose it’s possible. The thing that concerns me is that the governing documents here, the U.S. Attorney’s manuals do say that when public confidence requires an announcement of an investigation, it can be done. So we’ve heard silence in the teeth of what the U.S. Attorney’s manual says and that to me is concerning.

Watch above, via MSNBC.