Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks following a briefing by Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives director Steven Dettelbach on the progress at the one year anniversary of the launch of the department’s regional firearms trafficking strike forces to address violent crime, at the Department of Justice in Washington, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. (Oliver Contreras/Pool via AP)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 9:53 AM PT – Thursday, July 21, 2022
Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated the Department of Justice will not announce a decision on whether to prosecute former President Donald Trump over January 6 before the midterms. According to recent reports, Garland penned a memo back in May reminding agency personnel of “election year sensitivities” and guidance regarding investigations into political figures.
The memo states “partisan politics” must play no role in any decisions regarding investigations or criminal charges. It also says investigators should never make public statements for the purpose of effecting any election. Garland spoke about the agency’s work regarding investigations into January 6 on Wednesday.
“Look, no person is above the law in this country,” he stated. “Nothing stops us. I don’t know how to say that again. No person is above the law in this country. I can’t say it any more clearly than that. There is nothing in the principles of prosecution, in any other factors which prevent us from investigating anyone, anyone who is criminally responsible for an attempt to undo a democratic election.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 6th investigation: “We do not do our investigations in public. This is the most wide-ranging investigation and the most important investigation that the Justice Department has ever entered into…We have to get this right.” pic.twitter.com/SUT93bbPsE
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 20, 2022
Garland also called the agency’s probe into January 6 one of the most wide-ranging and important investigations its ever conducted.