Tensions escalated Thursday between the House committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection and the Justice Department, with prosecutors complaining their lack of access to transcripts of witness interviews is hampering their ability to prosecute cases.
In a letter to the committee Wednesday, several senior Justice Department officials wrote that not granting the department access to transcripts complicates the “ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct.”
The letter was filed in court as part of a prosecutor’s notice to the judge that they agree with several Proud Boys defendants’ request that their trial scheduled for the late summer should be pushed back to December because of lack of access to transcripts of the committee’s witnesses.
Lawyers for some of those defendants have demanded access to some of the committee’s evidence, noting that millions of Americans, including prospective jurors in the District, watched and heard the committee hearing in which one defendant, Joseph Biggs, was repeatedly mentioned. The hearing also carried video of another Proud Boy defendant.
The flare-up marks an escalation of long-simmering tensions between the Justice Department and the Jan. 6 committee. At times, committee members have publicly questioned whether the Justice Department is being aggressive enough in pursuing criminal cases. The Justice Department, in turn, has been asking since April to see the committee’s witness transcripts to determine if there is evidence for the hundreds of criminal cases they have already charged.
In a letter to the committee Wednesday, several senior Justice Department officials wrote that not granting the department access to transcripts complicates the “ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct.”
The letter was filed in court as part of a prosecutor’s notice to the judge that they agree with several Proud Boys defendants’ request that their trial scheduled for the late summer should be pushed back to December because of lack of access to transcripts of the committee’s witnesses.
Lawyers for some of those defendants have demanded access to some of the committee’s evidence, noting that millions of Americans, including prospective jurors in the District, watched and heard the committee hearing in which one defendant, Joseph Biggs, was repeatedly mentioned. The hearing also carried video of another Proud Boy defendant.
The flare-up marks an escalation of long-simmering tensions between the Justice Department and the Jan. 6 committee. At times, committee members have publicly questioned whether the Justice Department is being aggressive enough in pursuing criminal cases. The Justice Department, in turn, has been asking since April to see the committee’s witness transcripts to determine if there is evidence for the hundreds of criminal cases they have already charged.
