The Justice Department has opened more than 170 case files so far related to the storming of the Capitol, a top federal prosecutor announced on Tuesday.
During a press conference at the Justice Department, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said a team of specialists is also looking into possible charges of sedition and conspiracy.
“I think the scope and scale of this investigation and these cases are really unprecedented, not only in FBI history but probably in DOJ history,” Sherwin said, calling the Capitol building and grounds “essentially a crime scene.”
The 170 figure is expected to “geometrically increase,” Sherwin said, stressing that “this is only the beginning.” The Justice Department has charged over 70 specific criminal cases so far, he added. Many of those charges appear to remain sealed on court websites, though some criminal indictments have started to become public.
Steven D’Antuono, the FBI assistant director in charge of the Washington field office, said the number of cases already opened is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Investigators are looking into trespassing, theft of mail, theft of digital devices, assault on local and federal officers, theft of potential national security information or national defense information, felony murder, and civil rights excessive force investigations, Sherwin said. He added that many of the initial charges are more simple charges that allow law enforcement across the United States “to arrest people from Dallas to Arkansas to Nashville to Cleveland to Jacksonville.”
“Then we have the ability to indict these individuals on more significant charges,” he said, adding that “significant felony cases” were presented before the federal grand jury starting on Monday, including some related to civil disorder, possession of destructive devices, and illegal weapons.
The Justice Department update comes as the Democratic-led House prepares to vote on an article of impeachment against President Trump for “incitement of insurrection” this week. Trump, who long refused to concede the race to President-elect Joe Biden, responded briefly during comments to the press outside the White House on Tuesday morning. “This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you’re doing it, and it’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing,” he said.
Sherwin announced the creation of a specialized “strike force of very senior national security prosecutors and public corruption prosecutors” whose sole marching orders are to determine whether there should be “significant cases tied to sedition and conspiracy” so that the Justice Department can potentially “build seditious and conspiracy charges related to the most heinous acts that have occurred in the Capitol.” He also said strike forces are focusing on assaults against law enforcement and on the media.
The prosecutor said that the investigation into who planted pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC is ongoing.
“They were real devices. They had explosive igniters. They had timers. We don’t know, obviously, exactly why they didn’t go off — that’s being investigated,” Sherwin said. “What was the purpose of those devices being planted? Was it a diversionary type of tactic used by some of these rioters? Or did it have some other type of nefarious purpose?”
D’Antuono noted that there was a $50,000 reward for information on the pipe bombs.
“We’re looking at and treating this just like a significant international counterterrorism or counterintelligence operation. We’re looking at everything — money, travel records, looking at disposition, movement, communication records … if there was a command control, how it operated, and how they executed these activities,” Sherwin said, eschewing the term “domestic terrorism” because, he insisted, the Justice Department has plenty of tools to charge criminal conduct.
D’Antuono said the FBI has received 100,000 pieces of digital media after asking for tips from the public. He also said that “the FBI has a long memory and a broad reach” and emphasized that the bureau was investigating both in the Washington, D.C., area and through its 56 nationwide field offices.
In addition, the FBI official addressed concerns that the bureau had not done enough to warn about violence that could occur last Wednesday.
“In the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 rally, the FBI worked internally with every FBI field office to ensure that we were looking for any intelligence that may have developed about potential violence during the rally on Jan. 6. We developed some intelligence that a number of individuals were planning to travel to the D.C. area with intentions to cause violence. We immediately shared that information, and action was taken,” D’Antuono said, adding that “other individuals were identified in other parts of the control and their travel subsequently disrupted.” He also pointed to the arrest of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio the Monday before the protest.
D’Antuono said the bureau shared intelligence with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes U.S. Capitol Police, in Washington, D.C., before Wednesday.
“The FBI receives enormous amounts of information and intelligence, and our job is to determine the credibility and viability of it under the laws and policies that guide FBI investigations,” D’Antuono said. “We have to separate the aspirational from the intentional, and determine which of the individuals saying despicable things on the internet are just practicing keyboard bravado, or do they actually have the intent to do harm. In the latter, we work diligently to identify them and to prevent them from doing so.”
When asked if there was evidence of plans to kidnap members of Congress, the FBI official said that “we’re looking at all angles.”
Capitol Hill Police Officer Brian Sicknick died Thursday night “due to injuries sustained while on-duty” after he was “injured while physically engaging with protesters,” according to Capitol Police. A federal homicide investigation has been opened into his death. Four other people died as a result of the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
“The investigation into officer Sicknick’s passing is an ongoing investigation,” D’Antuono said. “We are looking at everything we possibly can.”
Trump exhorted a crowd in the many tens of thousands to march on Capitol Hill as Congress was set to conduct the task of counting each state’s certified electoral votes. Pandemonium erupted when hundreds sought to enter, pressing past barricades and clashing with police. Once inside, lawmakers and media hunkered down or fled while the hordes roamed through the building and ignored orders from police to leave.
A woman killed by law enforcement, 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt from California, was an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter who was shot while trying to climb over a barricade as a crowd tried to break down a door in the Capitol. Police said three others had various medical emergencies and died during the chaos at the Capitol Building and that dozens of officers were injured amid the unrest.
