WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives commission investigating the January 6 attack may begin sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials step up public pressure on the commission to hand over the documents.
Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heafe, the lead investigator in the House of Representatives and a former federal prosecutor, has intensified in recent days as the two sides argue over the timing and content of the material to be transferred, according to several people familiar with the talks but unauthorized. discuss the issue publicly.
Earlier, prosecutors said the commission plans to make the requested documents public in September.
“The selected committee is engaged in a process of co-operation to meet the needs of the Department of Justice,” said commission spokesman Tim Mulvey. “We are reluctant to share the details publicly. We believe that accountability is important and will not be an obstacle to prosecuting the department. “
Justice Department officials and leading investigators, including Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. District Attorney, are becoming increasingly eager to receive transcripts, which they see as the main source of information needed to direct their own interviews with former President Donald. J.’s allies. Trump, according to those familiar with the talks.
The justice ministry sent a two-page letter to the commission on Wednesday, accusing the group of obstructing the federal criminal investigation into the attack by refusing to share transcripts of interviews with prosecutors.
In the letter, the department’s staff suggested that by keeping the transcripts, the commission found it difficult for prosecutors to assess the credibility of witnesses who may have spoken before the commission and secretly appeared before a grand jury.
The topics of the hearings of the committee of the House of Representatives on January 6
“The failure of the elected commission to provide the department with access to these transcripts complicates the department’s ability to investigate and prosecute those involved in criminal behavior in connection with the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” Justice Department officials said in a letter. has been made public in a court file.
Representative Benny Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the committee, told reporters Thursday that the House committee is in the middle of its work and wants to complete more of its investigation before handing over extensive evidence to the department.
“We will not stop what we are doing to share the information we have received so far with the Ministry of Justice,” he said. “We have to do our job.”
Mr Thompson added that the committee “will cooperate with them, but the committee has its own timetable”. Earlier, he suggested that some transcripts be made available to the department upon request.
Democrats on the committee were stunned by the confrontational tone of the letter from the Justice Ministry, and thought the talks were amicable after some initial public snipers, according to someone familiar with the discussions.
Lawmakers in the committee and staff members responsible for conducting hundreds of interviews said they were currently busy presenting the clearest possible public evidence that Mr Trump and his allies had incited an uprising – and planned to turned to the department’s request as they begin to end their series of public hearings later this month.
Other, more important issues remain. Assistants are still questioning witnesses, hoping the high-level hearings will get more out, and are concerned that some people may be reluctant to testify if they know their testimony will be shared quickly with prosecutors.
And the logistical challenges are daunting: the commission has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, hundreds of which have been transcribed, and meeting the Ministry of Justice’s request will require diverting staff who are already exhausted and overworked. Due to the volume of interviews – often dozens a week – it sometimes took the committee months to draw up a transcript of a witness and invite his or her lawyer to examine it in person.
In addition, some committee members are disappointed with the Ministry of Justice’s refusal to share information and interviews requested by the committee so far.
The letter Wednesday came about two months after the department’s employees sent their first written request for transcripts. On April 20, Mr. Graves and Kenneth A. Polit Jr., Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, wrote to the committee and said that some transcripts “may contain information related to the criminal investigation we are conducting.”
The letter did not specify the number of transcripts the department was looking for or whether certain interviews were of particular interest. His request was broad, asking the panel to “provide us with transcripts of these interviews and any additional interviews you are conducting in the future”.
The committee has no power to prosecute anyone involved in the storming of the Capitol. Commissioners said the justice ministry needs to do more to hold people accountable for their role in the attack.
The department’s extensive riot investigation has so far led to the arrests of more than 840 people. The leaders of two of the country’s most famous far-right groups, the Proud Boy and the Guardians of the Oath, have been accused of plotting a rebellion.
Prosecutors are also investigating whether the laws were violated in the weeks before the attack, as Mr Trump’s allies stared at exaggerated legal arguments and conspiracy theories about voter fraud as they tried to keep him in power. Prosecutors have called for information related to some of the lawyers who worked on the effort.
Alan Foyer contributed to the reports.
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