Republican lawmakers are pressing Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer for “aggressive prosecutions” of what Donald Trump and others have called “political prisoners.”
Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) penned a letter to Garland late Monday concerning the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) “aggressive prosecutions of American citizens who were present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” which they note has been characterized as “the largest criminal investigation in American history.”
Their letter, obtained by Breitbart News, comes before Garland testifies Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee for a much-anticipated DOJ oversight hearing.
Garland, the nation’s top law enforcement figure, has repeatedly stonewalled oversight requests from Roy, Biggs, and Massie, whose timely letter elevating their requests sends a clear signal on lines of questioning Garland can expect Tuesday.
2024-06-03 CR AB TM to Garland Re Jan 6 Information by Breitbart News on Scribd
Their letter notes that while many of the 1,200 prosecutions in relation to January 6 are “meritorious and appropriate,” many caught in the sweep “committed no crime or have been overcharged.” The three Republicans press – through their constitutional oversight authority – the DOJ to provide a detailed breakdown of those charged.
They write:
To facilitate our oversight, we request that the Department provide a detailed and comprehensive breakdown—beyond what is publicly available—of the name[s] 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, and the sentencing requests and sentences received and how they compare with non-January 6 defendants who pleaded guilty to the same criminal offenses.
Roy, Biggs, and Massie detail their multiple requests for information and briefings on the subject, which have gone mostly ignored. They write that their oversight requests come “at a critical time as other reports surfaced about potential mistreatment of defendants in federal custody, such as retaliation by detention officers, housing inmates in unsanitary holding cells, providing poor food quality, and subjecting individuals to humiliating punishments.”
Significantly, the trio’s letter highlights that “other investigations have pointed to the FBI’s possible involvement in facilitating the events of January 6.”
The three Republicans each chair Judiciary subcommittees. Roy chairs the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Biggs the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, and Massie the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
