Justice Department to focus on felony Jan. 6 cases until Trump's inauguration
The Justice Department plans to focus on Jan. 6 felony arrests before President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to focus on arresting the “most egregious” Jan. 6 rioters — particularly those who committed felony assaults on law enforcement officers but have not yet been arrested — in the remaining 72 days before President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House, a law enforcement official told NBC News this week.
Trump is expected to shut down the yearslong investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and has said he would “absolutely” pardon some, if not all, of his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol that day, labeling them “warriors,” “unbelievable patriots,” political prisoners and “hostages.” A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on which rioters Trump would consider pardoning, though the campaign previously said that he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants on a “case-by-case basis when he is back in the White House.”
Then-President Donald Trump arrives to speak to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House, in Washington, DC., on Jan. 6, 2021.Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images fileGiven Trump’s stunning election victory, federal prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Capitol Siege Section received guidance this week about how to proceed in pending Jan. 6 cases, NBC News has learned, including a directive to oppose any Jan. 6 defendant’s requests for delays. Prosecutors are instructed to argue that there is a societal interest in the quick administration of justice and these cases should be handled in the normal order.
As for new arrests, the law enforcement official said, prosecutors will “focus on the most egregious conduct and cases until the end of the administration.” There are unlikely to be any further arrests of misdemeanor Jan. 6 defendants — such as those who entered the Capitol but did not assault law enforcement — unless a judge already signed off on those cases, but felony assault cases will proceed, the official said.
Online sleuths who have aided the FBI in hundreds of arrests of Capitol rioters told NBC News they have identified and submitted evidence to the bureau on 75 people who are currently featured on the FBI’s Capitol Violence webpage and labeled as wanted for assault on a federal officer or for assault on media, both felonies.
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