Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke in a news conference on Wednesday and pushed back on criticism about the Justice Department's response to the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
Garland added that prosecutors are still building cases against serious offenders and said no one would be off limits. He mentioned that people who were not physically present could still face charges for their roles in the insurrection.
“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” Garland said. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”
Democrats have recently expressed frustration with Garland and the Justice Department, calling for them to prosecute former President Donald Trump and others that worked closely with him for their roles in the Jan. 6 attacks.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona called Garland "extremely weak" in an interview with CNN on Tuesday for not arresting more organizers of the Capitol riots.
“Merrick Garland has been extremely weak, and I think there should be a lot more of the organizers of Jan. 6 that should be arrested by now,” Gallego said. “You have an attorney general who is feckless and has not been helpful in terms of preserving our democracy.”
Garland said on Wednesday the the public needs to be patient, and that the investigation is handling people that played a minor role, before going after the more significant ones. More than 700 people have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 attacks with almost half facing felony charges, but most have been arrested for only misdemeanor charges.
“We build investigations by laying a foundation,” Garland said. “Investigating the more overt crimes generates linkages to less overt ones. Overt actors and the evidence they provide can lead us to others who may also have been involved. … To ensure that all those criminally responsible are held accountable, we must collect the evidence. We follow the physical evidence. We follow the digital evidence. We follow the money.”
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He then expressed the department's efforts in response to voting restrictions that have been imposed in many Republican states following Trump's false claims of voter fraud.
"The Department of Justice will continue to do all it can to protect voting rights with the enforcement powers we have," Garland said.
"But as with violence and threats of violence, the Justice Department -- even the Congress -- cannot alone defend the right to vote," Garland said. "The responsibility to preserve democracy -- and to maintain faith in the legitimacy of its essential processes -- lies with every elected official and every American."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) gave Garland praise for showing the intention of pursuing anyone in connection with the Capitol riots.
“Attorney General Garland’s confirmation that DOJ will hold accountable all perpetrators, at any level, of the January 6 attack is a critical step toward justice for all those harmed in the attack — including the more than 140 law enforcement officers who were wounded, and the five who lost their lives in the days and weeks after," Durbin said. “It is crucial that we send a strong, clear message to the nation — and to the world — that those who incite violence against their fellow Americans will be held accountable.”
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