Where the Justice Department is headed
Last edited Fri Jun 10, 2022, 12:19 PM - Edit history (1)
from CNN:
May 9 - Federal grand juries have met every day since mid-April in the downtown Washington courthouse, approving indictments related to January 6 nearly every day. Prosecutors assigned to these cases and law enforcement witnesses frequently pop in and out of the confidential proceedings.
As of last week, prosecutors have signed up more than 10 defendants as cooperators against Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, whose leaders are charged with separate conspiracy allegations. The case against the Oath Keepers has taken several steps forward in recent days, with two new cooperators against Rhodes and others announced in the past week.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has publicly professed the investigation would proceed methodically. In most criminal investigations, that often means prosecutors pursue less significant figures to plead guilty and potentially cooperate as they gradually build evidence for higher-profile cases. Garland specifically noted in January that the federal evidence-collection efforts would dig into both physical and digital evidence and money.
Federal investigators also have sought to bolster the conspiracy cases by drawing connections to violence that occurred at other rallies in the weeks before January 6, according to the sources and court filings. DOJ officials believe that could help prosecutors show there was a pattern of violence, and that the Capitol riot wasn't just a spontaneous event, sources say.
In court last week, prosecutors also disclosed how the Oath Keepers' leader Stewart Rhodes called an unnamed person on speakerphone from a hotel suite on the evening of January 6, asking to speak directly to Trump and urging the person to tell Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to "forcefully oppose the transfer of power."
Prosecutors have said they expect to bring more charges against people affiliated with extremist groups. Grand jury activity continues apace. And investigators are talking to a wide range of people, including organizers of pro-Trump rallies that preceded the US Capitol attack, while seeking information about attempts to impede the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral win.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/09/politics/oath-keepers-january-6-election-fraud-trump/index.html
...from May:
Federal investigation into Trump fake elector probe expands to multiple states
(CNN)Federal investigators have interviewed Republicans in Georgia about interactions with people in former President Donald Trump's orbit and his 2020 reelection campaign, as the Justice Department's sprawling criminal probe into efforts to put forth alternate slates of electors to displace Joe Biden electors expands to multiple states.
Investigators have sought answers this month from Gartland and others connected to the GOP in Georgia and in Michigan -- both in FBI interviews and in grand jury subpoenas for documents and testimony. Investigators are looking at whether the Trump campaign played a role in the submission of false election certificates, according to people approached by the Justice Department.
The federal probe's aggressiveness in the battleground states around the electors issue has not been previously reported. The DOJ has charged hundreds of rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and in recent months, investigators have broadened their scope, seeking information about people in more politically connected circles.
The subpoenas also seek any communications with more than two dozen named Trump campaign officials, attorneys and Georgia electors. CNN reported Wednesday that a recent subpoena related to the alternate electors sought communications with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark, right-wing attorney John Eastman and others.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/26/politics/doj-georgia-republicans-trump-fake-elector-probe/index.html
There are other things to watch (Katelyn Polantz, CNN’s senior reporter for crime and justice's read in on what’s happened and what to expect) ...
CNN - As for complex investigations that cross more into elite political circles, we know the DOJ is asking witnesses not only about the Trump electors, but also about the organizing of the pro-Trump rally on January 6, and about members of the government who may have tried to obstruct the 2020 presidential vote result. Those investigations touch on many, many players potentially up to and including Trump.
There’s always been a bit of a disconnect between the public perception of this investigation and the actual steps being taken in it. There’s ample criticism of Garland being slow and not aggressive, but the Justice Department has charged more than 800 defendants and secured guilty pleas from more than a third of those. That is a massive undertaking for the adjudication of justice. It is the largest federal investigation in history.
The crime of the breach of Congress occurred on January 6, 2021, and it was shortly after the one-year anniversary that we saw the DOJ’s first seditious conspiracy charge land. That was also when we picked up indications that the investigation had expanded outside of just those on the grounds that day and into political circles.
As any prosecutor will tell you, investigations take time. The DOJ has five years, under the law, to investigate and prosecute as they see fit. We just reached the end of the first quarter.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/were-learning-a-lot-more-about-the-dojs-january-6-investigations/ar-AAYcc4j?ocid=BingNewsSearch
= new reply since forum marked as read
