Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the Justice Department will prosecute anyone who was "criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another,” not ruling out the possibility of charging former president Donald Trump in the department’s January 6 investigation.
Garland's comments came during an interview with NBC News' Lester Holt, in which the news anchor asked the attorney general if he would consider prosecuting Trump even if it could “tear the country apart.”
"Look, we pursue justice without fear or favor,” Garland said. “We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6, for any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another, accountable, that’s what we do.”
The interview was aired shortly before the Washington Post reported that the Justice Department is investigating Trump’s actions as part of its criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Sources reportedly told the paper that prosecutors have asked witnesses — including two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence — about conversations with Trump, his lawyers and others in his inner circle who were involved in crafting a fake elector scheme to try to swap Trump allies for certified electors in some Biden-won states.
Garland also said it is “totally up to” the House committee investigating the Capitol riot whether to issue a criminal referral for the former president.
“We will have the evidence that the committee has presented and whatever evidence it gives us,” Garland said. “We have our own investigation, pursuing through the principles of prosecution.”
The interview comes days after the House panel held a hearing sharing evidence that White House aides, lawmakers, and Trump's own family members urged him to call off the mob of his supporters who had descended upon the Capitol on January 6 for hours as the former president refused to act.
Instead spent his time in the dining room calling several senators to ask them to delay the certification of the election of Joe Biden as president, the panel said. He also called Rudy Giuliani, who was serving as his personal lawyer at the time and his leading efforts to overturn the election.
Representative Adam Kinzinger (D., Ill.) said during the hearing that there was a "desperate scramble for everyone to get President Trump to do anything."
Keith Kellogg, who served as a national security adviser to Pence, told the committee that Ivanka Trump discussed doing something to discourage the rioters with her father twice.
The committee showed texts between Donald Trump Jr. and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in which the younger Trump said of his father, "He's got to condemn this sh**. Asap. The captiol [sic] police tweet is not enough."
Meadows replied, "I am pushing it hard. I agree."
"This his one you go to the mattresses on," the younger Trump said. "They will try to f*** his entire legacy on this if it gets worse."
Instead, at 2:24 p.m., Trump sent a tweet accusing Pence of not having the courage to block the certification of Biden's victory, sending a new wave of anger through the mob toward the vice president. Trump ultimately did not release a statement asking rioters to disperse until 4:17 p.m., at which point he released a video asking rioters to "go home," telling them, "we love you, you're very special."
Trump later added in a tweet, "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots.… Go home with love & peace. Remember this day forever!"
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