Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the FBI and his Justice Department prosecutors on Monday as heroes for their zealous pursuit of those who stormed the Capitol four years ago, and said the cases they are building against the participants are a defense of democracy.
Mr. Garland, who took office just weeks after the 2021 attack, has poured a massive amount of government resources into arrests and prosecutions.
He said it’s become “one of the most complex and most resource-intensive investigations in the Justice Department’s history.” And he said the work is not done.
“Jan. 6 was a violent attack on the law enforcement officers defending the Capitol, and it was an unprecedented attack on a cornerstone of our system of government — the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to begin issuing pardons to Jan. 6 participants as soon as he retakes office in two weeks. He said Mr. Garland was too overbearing in his pursuit of those involved.
Democrats on Capitol Hill berated him Monday for that promise.
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“Pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers and tried to halt the democratic process would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Democrats’ leader in the Senate. “It is wrong. It is reckless. And it would be an insult to the memories of those who died in connection to that day.”
He and fellow Democrats also claimed moral high ground Monday for voting to certify the results of Mr. Trump’s 2024 election win.
“Our side will not engage in election denialism,” Mr. Schumer said. “We Democrats accept the will of the people.”
The fighting comes even as Mr. Garland’s agents and lawyers continue to bring new cases.
The FBI maintains active Be-On-The-Lookouts for what it calls “violent offenders” from Jan. 6, and prosecutors are still filing new charges.
Cases in December include a man whom authorities say was involved with pushing and obstructing police officers, and another accused of thrusting a flagpole at a police officer and “making contact” with him. The man refused to drop the flagpole when ordered to by police, prosecutors said.
Thousands of people descended on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, and more than 2,000 of them breached the building, disrupting the Electoral College count that confirmed President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Mr. Trump.
One woman was shot and killed by a police officer as she and fellow rioters tried to break into an off-limits area near the House chamber, and the subsequent deaths of five police officers — one who suffered a stroke immediately after the riot and four by suicide within seven months of the riot — have been attributed to the stress and chaos of the day.
The Justice Department says $2.8 million worth of damage was done to the Capitol.
Some 1,538 people have been charged in federal court. Of those, 608 were charged with resisting or assaulting police, and 174 of those were charged with using a weapon or severely injuring an officer.
Eighteen people have been charged with seditious conspiracy.
Nobody has been charged with insurrection.
Of the nearly 1,600 total defendants, 1,009 have pleaded guilty — though 682 of those only pleaded to misdemeanors.
Another 221 people were convicted after a trial.
All told, 667 people have been sentenced to terms behind bars and another 145 received home detention.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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