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US Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to hold the Jan. 6 perpetrators to account “at all levels” in a speech to the Department of Justice on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol.
Garland on Wednesday defended the Justice Department’s work in prosecuting those involved in the Capitol riots, which left at least five dead, injured hundreds more and disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s college victory. electoral.
Progressives have accused the DoJ of failing to act aggressively enough in pursuing Donald Trump and his supporters in connection with the attacks.
“We understand there are questions about how long the investigation will take and what exactly we’re doing,” Garland said. “Our response is, and will continue to be, the same response we would give to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever it takes for justice to be served, according to the facts and the law. “
Garland said the Department of Justice issued more than 5,000 subpoenas and search warrants, reviewed more than 20,000 hours of video footage and received advice from more than 300,000 ordinary citizens in connection with the investigation. In progress. The attorney general said more than 725 defendants had already been charged with charges related to the attack, and said larger charges may still be pending.
“The measures we have taken so far will not be the last,” added the attorney general. “The Department of Justice remains committed to holding all perpetrators of January 6 accountable at all levels under the law, whether they were present that day or whether they were criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they take us.
Trump and most of his entourage have so far escaped criminal charges relating to January 6. However, Steve Bannon, the former adviser to the former president, was indicted late last year with contempt of Congress after failing to comply with a subpoena issued by a congressional committee conducting its own. investigation into the attack on the Capitol.