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United States Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday reassured Americans that the Department of Justice remains committed to holding all the perpetrators of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol “at any level” accountable under the law.
In a speech ahead of the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol last year by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Merrick said his department would pursue those responsible “whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
"The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last. [DOJ] remains committed to holding all Jan 6 perpetrators, at every level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy" — AG Garland pic.twitter.com/8IEr7ZSh8m
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2022
“We will follow the facts wherever they lead,” he added”
In comments that appeared to address criticism leveled against his department by some Democrats that it had not been robust enough and was too slow in pursuing the investigation, he said the work was far from over.
“Because January 6th was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy, we understand that there is broad public interest in our investigation. We understand that there are questions about how long the investigation will take, and about what exactly we are doing,” said Garland.
Adding,” Our answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with respect to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever it takes for justice to be done — consistent with the facts and the law.”
“I understand that this may not be the answer some are looking for. But we will and we must speak through our work. Anything else jeopardizes the viability of our investigations and the civil liberties of our citizens.”
Garland said the Justice Department has charged more than 725 defendants in relation to the events of January 6 last year. He explained that the most severe charges have been reserved for people accused of assaulting police officers and of being involved in planning to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
“By now, though, we have charged over 325 defendants with felonies – many for assaulting officers, and many for corruptly obstructing, or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding,” Garland said. “Twenty defendants charged with felonies have already pled guilty.”
In the aftermath of the attack, he said the department of justice had undertaken one of the largest, most complex and most resource-intensive investigations in its history.
He said so far more than 5,000 subpoenas and search warrants had been issued, about 2,000 devices had been seized, 20,000 hours of video footage had been examined while investigators had gone through an estimated 15 terabytes of data. He said more than 300,000 tips had been received from ordinary citizens.
“The central norm is that, in our criminal investigations, there cannot be different rules depending on one’s political party or affiliation. There cannot be different rules for friends and foes. And there cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless,” said Garland.
“There is only one rule: we follow the facts and enforce the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties.”
Garland’s speech included a lengthy discussion of voting rights, in the context of threats to election officials as well as the state legislative efforts to make voting harder.
Garland said claims of mass voting fraud “have corroded people’s faith in the legitimacy of our elections,” and that they have “been repeatedly refuted by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies of both the last administration and this one, as well as by every court — federal and state — that has considered them.”
“The Department of Justice will continue to do all it can to protect voting rights with the enforcement powers we have,” Garland said, as he reiterated calls for Congress to pass legislation that would expand federal voting rights protections.
“But as with violence and threats of violence, the Justice Department — even the Congress — cannot alone defend the right to vote,” Garland said. “The responsibility to preserve democracy — and to maintain faith in the legitimacy of its essential processes — lies with every elected official and every American.”
The Senate is set to take up a voting rights bill next week, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing to debate changing the rules on the filibuster if Republicans block debate on the bill.
