Jun 16, 2022 - Politics & Policy

DOJ: Jan. 6 panel's failure to give transcripts "complicates" probes

Julia Shapero

The U.S. Department of Justice seal on a podium in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Photo: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Department of Justice on Wednesday renewed its request for the Jan. 6 select committee to turn over witness transcripts, saying that the "failure" to hand them over has hindered the DOJ's investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.

The big picture: This is the latest spat between the Jan. 6 panel and the DOJ, and the first time the department has suggested the committee has undermined the federal investigation into the attack on the Capitol.

The DOJ initially asked the committee for its witness transcripts in May, but the committee refused, saying it would be "premature."
The Justice Department also announced earlier this month that it would not indict former President Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows or Trump's deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino for contempt of Congress — a decision the committee called "puzzling."

Driving the news: “The Select Committee’s failure to grant the Department access to these transcripts complicates the Department’s ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the January 6 attack on the Capitol," the DOJ wrote in a letter to the committee Wednesday.

The letter was included in a filing by federal prosecutors on Thursday agreeing to postpone a trial for leaders of the Proud Boys militia group until December.

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DOJ: Jan. 6 panel's failure to give transcripts "complicates" probes

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