headline rewrite:Expanding Jan. 6 Probe Stretches DOJ Resources
Federal officials are raising concerns that the Justice Department's expanding investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol could bring the already stretched probe to a breaking point, according to NBC News.
Cases against Capitol rioters are making their way through the court systems as a federal grand jury is hearing testimony about the role then-President Donald Trump may have played that day.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Justice Department is investigating Trump's actions in a criminal probe of the former president's attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
More than a dozen sources expressed concern to NBC News that the department's resources may be stretched too thin.
NBC News noted law enforcement agents have made about 850 arrests since the riot. It noted, however, that represents only a sliver of the more than 2,500 people who entered the Capitol.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney Office in Washington, which is directing the riot investigations, is also looking at a number of other related issues, including whether there was a conspiracy to obstruct the electoral vote certification on Jan. 6, according to NBC News.
In a budget request for 2023, the Justice Department has asked Congress for more than $34 million to fund 130 employees, including 80 federal prosecutors, to aid the "extraordinary" investigation.
Still, Attorney General Merrick Garland told NBC News he is "confident" that the Justice Department could handle the workload regardless of what Congress does.
"Of course, we'd like more resources, and if Congress wants to give that to us, that would be very nice," Garland said Tuesday. "But we have people — prosecutors and agents — from all over the country working on this matter, and I have every confidence in their ability, their professionalism, their dedication to this task."
Others are not as certain.
"We don't have the manpower," an official said.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said: "People are concerned about the resources. It's an enormous amount of cases, and that puts pressure not just on DOJ, but on the courts and probation. It puts pressure on the entire system."
Without the extra funding from Congress, the Jan. 6 investigation will take away resources from other unrelated investigations.
"This will have a detrimental impact on the United States Attorneys' ability to backfill vacancies and prosecute important cases in other jurisdictions," the Justice Department said in its budget request to Congress.
it will be interesting to see who those 20 people are...Jan. 6 panel agrees to turn over 20 depositions to DOJ
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol expects to turn over 20 depositions to the Department of Justice as it accelerates its probe into the riot that day.
Lawmakers on the panel confirmed Friday that it would share the depositions shortly after coming to an agreement with the Justice Department following months of standoff between the two entities over sharing their work.
“I’m not certain who the 20 will be. But I would generally say that they’d probably be persons of interest, either they’re taking them to court or something like that,” Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters Friday.
The agreement to share some committee work follows news that the Justice Department brought two former aides to Vice President Mike Pence before a grand jury. They’ve also secured the cooperation of Kenneth Kulkowski, who worked alongside Jeffrey Clark, the assistant attorney general that former President Trump weighed installing as attorney general to forward investigations into purported voter fraud.
All can weigh in on a broader effort by the Trump campaign to focus on its fake elector scheme, using baseless claims of voter fraud as a justification for sending fake electoral certificates from key states President Biden had won.
Reporting from The New York Times earlier this month also indicates the Justice Department is beginning to more directly investigate Trump’s actions surrounding Jan. 6.
“Donald Trump was not an innocent bystander to these events, and he was at the center of a lot of the action. So I imagine if you’re the Department of Justice, and you’re investigating criminal offenses against the United States, his name would be coming up,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters Friday.
“We don’t know that there’s an investigation into him going on. But I do understand, at least from press reportage, that his name has come up in those grand jury investigations, and it seems to me implausible that it wouldn’t come up.”
The committee had previously said DOJ was too broad in its request for information from the panel, essentially asking them to turn over all depositions. Thompson relented on his earlier position that DOJ come in for an “in camera” review of documents, instead agreeing to turn over a smaller subset of depositions after DOJ narrowed their request.
“We’ve collected a lot of information, and I think a broad brush request would have interfered with the normal process of our work. We now have it cataloged to where it’s reasonable. Initially, we talked about an in camera review of material and we’ve since modified that to make information available upon request,” Thompson said.
“They won’t go beyond 20 at this point, and we think that’s reasonable. And after that, we’ll negotiate it. But everything we’ve done at some point will be made available to the public anyway, and if DOJ has an interest in particular individuals now, we will do that.”
Jan. 6 panel agrees to turn over 20 depositions to DOJ
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol expects to turn over 20 depositions to the Department of Justice as it accelerates its probe into the riot that day. Lawmak…thehill.com
And it's going to drive him to his grave. Be prepared for the letdown.
Lawrence: Trump Will Likely Be A Defendant For The Rest Of His Life
327,163 views Jul 29, 2022 Former President Donald Trump is facing legal exposure on multiple fronts, including a civil lawsuit filed by 8 Capitol police officers who defended the Capitol during the January 6th riot. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains why 76-year-old Donald Trump is likely to be a defendant for the rest of his life.
i won't be disappointed if trump dies before he's punished, only relieved that he's gone.And it's going to drive him to his grave. Be prepared for the letdown.
lulz
Do you intend on keeping your Social Security check?
please do not conflate or associate rape of minors with what consenting adults do. That is a rhetorical tool akin to that used by the toxics.I have nothing against gay people, you do you. I personally have never thrown anyone out, come out on your own. I just don't agree with every sexual issues that others are stating to be normal. Even trying to push Pedo's as a norm is BS. I see 2 gays making out in the street, its what they like to do. Why they do it, idk. but nothing against gays.
plus rep.headline rewrite:
DOJ officials raise concern that they might have to do their job.
it looks like someone exfoliated him wth a power tool.Trump without his orange make up.........yuck.
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