The Justice Department is preparing to hire 80 new attorneys at a cost of $34 million, and the department’s request for additional funding to cover those DOJ attorneys has some saying the agency is on the verge of something very big.
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post notes that the 80 additional lawyers at DOJ will be assigned to the ongoing investigation of the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco had this to say at a press briefing on Monday:
“The Jan. 6 investigation is among the most wide-ranging and most complex that this department has ever undertaken. It reaches nearly every U.S. attorney’s office, nearly every FBI field office.
“Regardless of whatever resources we seek or get, let’s be very, very clear: We are going to continue to do those cases. We are going to hold those perpetrators accountable, no matter where the facts lead us, [and] as the attorney general has said, no matter at what level. We will do those cases.”
That pledge, Rubin writes, is very bad news for failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and others:
The funding request and Monaco’s vow to pursue culprits “no matter at what level” suggest that Justice Department investigators will continue to follow the chain upward from the insurrection participants and planners to those in the previous administration who set out to overturn the election, including Trump. Still, the absence of any indication that Justice Department lawyers are questioning higher-level personnel leaves many wondering: What is the department up to, and what will it do with all the resources it is seeking?
Among the possibilities for those new staffers at the Justice Department:
- Questioning members of Congress who have refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee so far. That can easily be done with a grand jury, subpoenas, and forcing the recalcitrant lawmakers to testify under oath
- Working up the chain of command, wherever it leads, including to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) who we now know was eager to help Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election
- Arranging immunity deals for former Trump administration staffers who have knowledge key to the investigation but might be tempted to plead the Fifth unless they’re assured they won’t do any time for their part in the attempted coup
The time has come to hold everyone who tried to subvert this country’s democracy accountable, no matter how exalted their title might be.
