WASHINGTON – House Committee investigating Jan. 6 attack could begin sharing transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors next month as Justice Department officials step up public pressure on panel to deliver the documents.
Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heaphy, the House panel’s chief investigator and former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days as the two sides quarrel over time and content. of the material that will be delivered, as reported. several people familiar with the conversations but not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
The prosecution has previously said that the committee planned to make the requested documents public in September.
“The select committee is involved in a cooperative process to address the needs of the Justice Department,” said committee spokesman Tim Mulvey. “We are not inclined to share the details publicly. We believe responsibility is important and will not be an obstacle to the department’s processes.”
Justice Department officials and leading investigators, including Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. District Attorney for Columbia, are increasingly eager to obtain the transcripts, which they consider an essential source of information needed to guide the case. his own interviews with former President Donald. J. Trump’s allies, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
The Justice Department sent a two-page letter to the committee on Wednesday accusing the panel of obstructing the federal criminal investigation into the attack by refusing to share transcripts of interviews with prosecutors.
In the letter, department officials suggested that by withholding the transcripts, the committee was making it difficult for prosecutors to assess the credibility of witnesses who may have spoken to the panel and appeared in secret before a grand jury.
The issues of the hearings of the House Committee on January 6
“The fact that the select committee has not granted the department access to these transcripts complicates the department’s ability to investigate and prosecute those involved in criminal conduct in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” officials wrote. of the Department of Justice a la carte, which was made public in a court case.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the committee, told reporters Thursday that the House panel was in the middle of its work and wanted to complete more of its investigation before delivering voluminous evidence to the department.
“We will not stop what we are doing to share the information we have received so far with the Department of Justice,” he said. “We have to do our job.”
Mr. Thompson added that the committee “would cooperate with them, but the committee has its own timetable.” He has previously suggested that certain transcripts may be made available to the department upon request.
Committee Democrats were shocked by the confrontational tone of the Justice Department’s letter and believed the talks had unfolded amicably after some first public snipers, according to a person familiar with the talks.
Committee lawmakers and staff members responsible for conducting hundreds of interviews have said they are currently consumed with the task of making the case public as clear as possible. Trump and his allies incited an insurgency, and plan to turn to the department’s request. as they begin to finish their series of public hearings later this month.
Other more substantive issues remain. Committee aides are still interviewing witnesses and expecting high-profile hearings to make them stand out more, and they are concerned that some people may be reluctant to testify if they know their statements will be quickly shared with prosecutors.
And the logistical challenges are staggering: the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, hundreds of which were transcribed, and accommodating the Justice Department’s request would require a diversion of staff from a staff that it is already exhausted and exaggerated. Due to the volume of interviews, which often add up to dozens per week, the committee has sometimes taken months to prepare the transcript of a testimony and invite their attorney to review it in person.
In addition, some committee members have been frustrated by the Justice Department’s refusal to share information and interviews requested by the committee so far.
Wednesday’s letter came about two months after department officials sent their first written request for the transcripts. On April 20, Mr. Graves and Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the deputy attorney general for the criminal division, wrote to the panel and said the transcripts “may contain information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting.”
The letter did not specify the number of transcripts the department was looking for or whether certain interviews were of particular interest. His request was broad, requesting that the panel “provide us with transcripts of these interviews and any additional interviews you conduct in the future.”
The committee has no authority to file criminal charges against anyone involved in the assault on the Capitol. Committee members have said the Department of Justice needs to do more to hold people accountable for their role in the attack.
The department’s extensive investigation into the riots has so far resulted in the arrest of more than 840 people. The leaders of two of the country’s most prominent far-right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, have been charged with sedition conspiracy.
Prosecutors are also examining whether the laws were breached in the weeks leading up to the attack, as Mr. Trump sought out outlandish legal arguments and conspiracy theories about election fraud as they tried to keep him in power. Prosecutors have cited information related to some of the lawyers who worked on these efforts.
Alan Feuer contributed to the report.