Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering charges for 200 more people related to January 6, 2021, according to Politico. About 1,583 people have already been federally charged for the event.
“Our Office is evaluating close to 200 cases that have been presented to us by the FBI, including over 60 cases that involve assaulting resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents or officers or obstructing those officers during a civil disorder, both of which are felony offenses,” the DOJ said.
“The Office has generally declined to charge individuals whose only crimes were illegally entering the grounds around the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, which has resulted in our Office declining approximately 400 cases presented to us by law enforcement for potential prosecution,” the DOJ noted. “Because of this exercise of prosecutorial discretion, the typical charged January 6 rioter committed multiple federal crimes on January 6, 2021, before engaging in the conduct that led to our Office filing charges.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland called January 6 a “violent attack on the law enforcement officers defending the Capitol” and an “unprecedented attack on a cornerstone of our system of government — the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.”
“The public servants of the Justice Department have sought to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting integrity,” he declared. “They have conducted themselves in a manner that adheres to the rule of law and honors our obligation to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of everyone in this country.”
President-elect Donald Trump said he would look into pardoning those charged for actions taken on January 6.
“We’re going to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual cases, yeah. I’m going to be acting very quickly… First day,” he said. “These people have been there for how long? It’s three, four years. You know, by the way, they’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”
