Justice Department officials are again pressing for access to interview transcripts from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, arguing the panel's refusal to share its work has hindered federal criminal investigations.
DOJ leaders sent a letter this week to Timothy Heaphy, the chief investigative counsel for the select committee, expressing continued frustration over the withholding of a trove of witness interviews, according to federal court records. The Jan. 6 committee has interviewed more than 1,000 people and is continuing its hearings.
"The Select Committee's failure to grant the Department access to these transcripts complicates the Department's ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the January 6 attack on the Capitol," the federal prosecutors wrote. "Accordingly, we renew our request that the Select Committee provide us with copies of the transcripts of all the interviews it has conducted to date."
The letter was signed by Justice Department Criminal Division head Kenneth Polite; Matthew Olsen, who leads the department's National Security Division; and U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.
Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) defended the select committee's decision when talking to reporters after a public hearing Thursday, confirming that it eventually will hand over the records but not just yet.
"We are not going to stop what we are doing to share the information that we have gotten so far with the Department of Justice," he said. "We have to do our work."
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