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Attorney General Garland Says He Wouldn’t Dodge Charging Trump Over Capitol Riot

The AG says he won’t stop until everyone who committed a crime on Jan. 6 is held accountable.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has promised that the investigation into the Capitol riot won’t stop until everyone who committed a criminal offense that day has been held accountable—even if that ends up including former President Donald Trump. “We begin with the cases that are right in front of us with the overt actions and then we build from there,” Garland told NPR in an interview to mark a year since he took up his post. “And that is a process that we will continue to build until we hold everyone accountable who committed criminal acts with respect to January 6.” When asked if the Justice Department would seek to avoid the controversy that would come with charging Trump, the AG responded: “We are not avoiding cases that are political or cases that are controversial or sensitive... What we are avoiding is making decisions on a political basis, on a partisan basis.”