The US Attorney General insisted on Wednesday that “no one is above the law” regarding the inquest into the attack on Congress in Washington on January 6, 2021.
The US Attorney General insisted on Wednesday that “no one is above the law” as Democrats push for the indictment of Donald Trump in the Capitol attack probe. Merrick Garland is the lead federal attorney conducting “the largest investigation the Justice Department has ever conducted,” he told reporters at the inquest into the attack on Congress in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
That day, thousands of Donald Trump supporters had witnessed a fiery speech by their President, banged at the ballot box but claimed otherwise before marching and invading Congress. Since then, the question of Donald Trump’s legal responsibility has arisen. “We must hold accountable anyone criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election,” the Democrat minister told reporters.
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“No one is above the law in this country”
Asked about the possible application of this principle to a former president, Merrick Garland said that “nobody is above the law in this country. I can’t be clearer.” “There is nothing preventing us, under the principles of law enforcement or elsewhere, from investigating anyone criminally responsible for attempting to overthrow a democratic election,” he added.
More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with this massive investigation into the attack on Congress. Most of them were accused of obstructing an official process: Congressmen’s confirmation of Joe Biden’s election that day.
Donald Trump, 76, who is openly flirting with a new presidential nomination in 2024, was impeached after Jan. 6 by the House of Representatives in an impeachment trial for inciting a riot that was eventually blocked by the Senate.
At the parliamentary level, a congressional commission of inquiry is conducting its own work and on Thursday must conclude a series of public hearings, this time devoted to Donald Trump’s actions on the day of the attack. This commission, at the end of its work planned for the autumn, could recommend to the Justice Department whether or not to indict the former president.