Security Expert: DOJ May Have Already Charged Trump’s Associates For Their Role In January 6

Considering what we already know about what transpired on January 6 and the revelations we’ve had from the House Select Committee on the Capitol insurrection, some have suggested that the Justice Department should have begun arresting top Trump administration officials and associates for their role in riots.

Recently, Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe noted that he believes Attorney General Merrick Garland is moving far too slowly:

But what if people have already been arrested and charged without any announcement? Could that have taken place in secret?

Security expert and journalist Marcy Wheeler notes on Twitter that arrests may have been made and the DOJ is now using those people to work their way up the food chain for even bigger fish.

Wheeler, who publishes on her own highly-acclaimed web site, Emptywheel.net, laid out a fascinating premise:

Think about it: Former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump’s so-called “attorney,” Rudy Giuliani, could already have been arrested, booked, and charged with all sorts of crimes related to Jan. 6. Now DOJ prosecutors are getting them to cooperate in exchange for sentencing consideration.

That’s the way the FBI and Justice Department has worked when going after the mafia: They get lower level soldiers in the organization to tell what they know about the capos and bosses. It’s a bottom-up way of dealing with criminal acts that’s been used for decades by law enforcement.

Now that the House Select Committee is about to hold public hearings, it’s not a stretch to suggest we may start seeing who has been charged and some of the court filings that could still be under seal.

Stay tuned.