Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin told reporters that the agency is at the beginning of a long-term investigation that will not be resolved overnight.
Officials have opened more than 170 files – people identified as potential offenders – on Capitol Hill insurgents.
According to Sherwin, this includes people who are likely to commit crimes on or off Capitol Hill. He added that he expects the number of open thematic files to increase to hundreds in the coming weeks.
The Department of Justice has chargedin more than 70 cases.
Of the 170 files opened to date, the Justice Department has laid charges in more than 70 cases, Sherwin said. That number is also expected to grow to hundreds as the research progresses, Sherwin said.
The agency investigates conspiracy and sedition.
In terms of the kinds of cases the Justice Department complains about, Sherwin says the range of cases and misconduct he handles is really overwhelming.
This includes serious crimes such as sedition and conspiracy. These charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Referring to the allegations, Sherwin added that it was a slap in the face to the Washington D.C. attorney general’s office.
He said their only marching orders were to file a charge of rioting and conspiracy in connection with the most heinous acts that took place on Capitol Hill, and these are major charges involving crimes that can lead to up to 20 years in prison.
There was an open fight with some police officers.
Sherwin said Tuesday that the Justice Department is working to find the rioters who engaged in an open fight with police officers during the outbreak.
A clearer picture of what happened on Capitol Hill, Sherwin said, I think will be developed in the coming weeks and days by laser, and I think people will be shocked by some of the blatant contacts that happened on Capitol Hill.
The homemade bombs left in front of party headquarters were really.
FBI Deputy Director Steven D’Antuono, who spoke with Sherwin at a news conference Tuesday, said the FBI was seeking information about the person or persons who helped plant homemade bombs outside Republican and Democratic headquarters last week.
D’Antuono said the bombs were real… and that they had timers.
We don’t know exactly why they didn’t leave, he added.
The FBI is considering putting some rioters on the no-fly list.
D’Antuono also said the agency is considering preventing those who attacked Capitol Hill last week from boarding aircraft by putting them on the federal no-fly list.
When asked about the move of Evan Perez from CNN, D’Antuono said that with respect to the no-fly list, we are looking at all the tools and techniques that we can use at the FBI, and that is something that we are actively looking at.
Assessment of press attacks
Investigators are also looking into riot attacks, including attacks on journalists, Sherwin said.
What some people don’t realize is that some of these rioters were specifically targeting members of the media, he said. Therefore, we have appointed highly qualified prosecutors in our office to handle these cases as well. And I mention all these different working groups to emphasize that no matter who the victim is, no matter who the perpetrator is, we all treat these cases the same.
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