Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa and ex-federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner had an exchange Monday evening that speculated why the Justice Department might not be coordinating closer with Congress on their probe into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Rangappa was curious why the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 doesn't appear to have a closer relationship with the DOJ. She noted that it doesn't give her much faith that Attorney General Merrick Garland is doing anything about the findings of the committee.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner agreed but said one reason for it might be that members of Congress have criminal exposure or culpability for Jan. 6. He specifically cited the reconnaissance tours at least one member said she witnessed a GOP colleague giving. There was a near obsession about where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was during the Jan. 6 proceedings, as the rioters were searching for her. He also cited "giving aid and comfort to the insurrection," and other things that can be linked to the GOP.
His comments come after former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi noted that his sources seem to indicate there are things going on behind the scenes. Those sources are telling him to give them time, assuring him that they're doing their jobs.
"It is everyone's question, 'why,'" Figliuzzi explained. "You know where I am on this. I have seen indications that something is happening. I don't see evidence of coordination and I get worried that the committee is in front of DOJ and doing things that they might like and then people telling me — who I trust — [to] calm down. 'Calm down. Give us space. We are doing our job.' So, I think DOJ is paying close attention and further, I think they have a strategy here and I still hold out hope that they're going to put the name Donald J. Trump in the subject line of a federal investigation."
Fellow former prosecutor Barb McQuade agreed, saying that judges don't generally make statements without facts to back them up. If that is the case, the DOJ is already on it, she thinks.
DOJ won\u2019t charge Trump simply because of political pressure from judge\u2019s opinion that Trump likely committed crimes on Jan 6. But the facts on which the judge\u2019s opinion are based cause me to believe that DOJ is already investigating.https://twitter.com/carriecordero/status/1508603924533678082\u00a0\u2026— Barb McQuade (@Barb McQuade) 1648518079
