A group of House Republicans is demanding that Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over a detailed account of every Jan. 6 criminal case.
The letter, signed by Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Thomas Massie (R-KY), obtained by Politico, chastised the Justice Department for ignoring previous calls for information and demanded a briefing on the Jan. 6 cases no later than June 17. The lawmakers criticized the DOJ for “overcharging” some defendants.
“As a threshold matter, the committee recognizes that, out of the 1,200 individuals the
department has prosecuted in relation to the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, many of these cases are meritorious and appropriate,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, we also know from reporting that individuals caught in the department’s Jan. 6 sweep have committed no crime or have been overcharged.”
“To facilitate our oversight, we request that the department provide a detailed and comprehensive breakdown, beyond what is publicly available, of the names of the individuals prosecuted, whether they were charged with committing violent or non-violent crimes, the specific charges against them, what offenses they ultimately pleaded guilty to violating, the sentencing requests and sentences received, and how they compare with non-Jan. 6 defendants who pleaded guilty to the same criminal offenses,” they continued.
In addition to the number of defendants who had been charged and the nature of their crimes, the representatives also asked for a comparison between Jan. 6 sentences and those of “similar criminal convictions not related to Jan. 6 (such as the plea agreements reached in the cases involving assaults on federal officers and destruction of federal property in the Portland riots in the summer of 2020), a riot carried out by a left-wing mob.”
They also asked for information on the alleged use of excessive force in arresting Jan. 6 defendants, focusing on the arrest of retirees Lora DeWolfe and Darrel Kennemer, whose home was raided by the FBI in June 2022. Information was requested regarding any abuse of detainees.
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The letter also hinted at a possible involvement of the FBI in the events surrounding Jan. 6, with part of the letter saying, “Investigations have pointed to the FBI’s possible involvement in facilitating the events of January 6.”
The treatment of Jan. 6 defendants has become a cause celebre for many Republican hard-liners in Congress, with these efforts usually being led by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). Former President Donald Trump has promised to pardon some defendants if reelected.