Yesterday, prosecutors from the Department of Justice wrote an official letter to the Select Committee stating that the Committee’s failure to share transcripts from interviews is hampering Department of Justice “prosecutions” already underway.
WOW: DOJ wrote to the select committee yesterday saying the committee is hampering criminal invsetigations by their “failure” to provide witness transcripts. pic.twitter.com/0yg1bnJiFR
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 16, 2022
The letter is intentionally vague other than the fact that DOJ seems to want unfettered access to Committee transcripts.
Both sides have legitimate reasons for their positions.
The Committee wants the evidence it has obtained presented in the most compelling manner because the Committee plans to provide referrals for prosecution, and it wants exclusive control of the evidence to set up each element so that the DOJ is almost compelled to prosecute the crimes the Committee believes it’s proven. Additionally, the Committee is a Congressional branch and thus inherently more political. The Committee wants its evidence to have the biggest political impact, and it would be concerned that giving its transcripts directly to DOJ makes the hearing itself look more political, giving its work directly to the “police” and prosecutors too early.
But DOJ admits (vaguely) that they have grand juries empaneled. Grand jury proceedings are entirely secret, and thus, DOJ cannot check its evidence against what a person said before Congress versus what it says before a grand jury. If the witness tells two different stories to the two bodies, that witness becomes almost useless, thereby hampering an investigation.
Despite the letter being intentionally vague, there are two rock-solid takeaways. One, DOJ wants the damned transcripts. They didn’t pick up the phone. They sent an official letter, “Went to paper,” as it’s called in Washington and in courts. Second, DOJ already has grand juries empaneled looking at felonious actions coming out of January 6th. The Committee is not the only one taking the matter seriously.
Jason Miciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, while also studying scientific philosophy, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.