Jan. 6 committee had 30 gigabytes of data it never released to the public — but turned over to DOJ: report

On Thursday, POLITICO reported that federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing that the former House January 6 Select Committee had some 30 gigabytes of material it never shared with the public — that was nonetheless handed over to the Justice Department for their own investigation.

The disclosure came as part of a case involving the January 6 activity of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers.

"The evidence was appended to the committee’s 255 witness transcripts, Justice Department prosecutors wrote in the four-page filing, noting that while the transcripts have been publicly revealed, the accompanying exhibits 'do not appear to have been released publicly,'" said the report. "Those exhibits include 'voluminous' disclosures made by committee witnesses, DOJ noted. Prosecutors’ review of the materials 'is ongoing,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy added."

"While the panel did release a significant subset of evidence in the mad-dash closing days of the last Congress, key pieces of evidence remain hidden from public view. And the panel can no longer release it; it was disbanded with the start of the new Congress, and its files have been transferred to the National Archives," said the report.

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Among the evidence not admitted, according to the report, includes text messages including Ivanka Trump, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, and an aide to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), whose office offered to transmit false slates of electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence. Transcripts from a Secret Service agent who reportedly contradicted claims made by former Secret Service chief Tony Ornato were also reportedly withheld.

The DOJ released this information as part of an argument against a motion by figures in the Oath Keepers to delay their trial.

The Oath Keepers were heavily involved in planning for the January 6 attack, with some of their members organizing "military stack" formations to break into the Capitol complex. The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and top associate Kelly Meggs, were convicted of seditious conspiracy, as well as several other convictions on lesser offenses for them and other associates. Another trial against more Oath Keepers is still ongoing.