司法部长梅里克·加兰周四告诉立法者，如果众议院投票将前总统移交，司法部将遵循“事实和法律”唐纳德·特朗普美国盟友史蒂夫·班农因藐视国会传票而被刑事起诉。
加兰在回答一个关于国会可能会将班农藐视法庭案提交的问题时表示:“我会说出哥伦比亚特区美国检察官办公室发言人昨天或前一天说的我认为的话。“如果众议院投票赞成移交藐视法庭罪指控——那么司法部将一如既往地在这种情况下行事，我们将适用事实和法律，并做出符合起诉原则的决定。”
加兰第一次出现在众议院司法委员会的同一天，众议院将投票决定是否以藐视国会罪拘留班农，班农曾担任特朗普的白宫顾问。
从历史上看，这种起诉很少，政治上也很棘手，但加兰对移交的潜在决定将对调查1月6日袭击美国国会大厦事件的众议院委员会产生重大影响，因为该委员会试图迫使据称在当天与特朗普有通信的个人合作。
上周末，当乔·拜登总统告诉记者，他希望司法部能继续起诉像班农这样无视特别委员会传票的人时，事情变得更加复杂。拜登发表讲话后，DOJ发言人迅速发表声明，重申该部门的独立性，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基随后澄清说，总统在这个问题上没有向加兰发出任何指示。
泳池/路透社
美国司法部长梅里克·加兰抵达众议院司法委员会作证..
「律政司会完全根据事实和法律，对所有检控作出独立决定。句号。发言人安东尼·科里说。
在听证会上，加兰还为司法部对1月6日暴动的广泛调查的处理进行了辩护。他星期四作证说，在袭击发生后的九个多月里，全国有650多人被指控。
加兰说:“我们当天目睹的暴力事件是一次无法容忍的袭击，不仅是对国会大厦和寻求保护国会大厦的勇敢执法人员的袭击，也是对我们民主的一个基本要素的袭击:权力的和平移交。
小组中的共和党人对审判前被拘留的一些暴徒的待遇表示担忧，此前法官裁定，他们要么对公众构成威胁，要么面临逃跑和妨碍司法公正的风险。
上周，一名负责监督一起骚乱者被拘留候审案件的联邦法官确实将案件移交给加兰，以调查被监禁的骚乱者是否因其作为国会大厦骚乱被告的身份而权利受到侵犯。加兰在周四的听证会上证实，美国法警署随后对他们的条件进行了检查，民权司正在审查调查结果。
Garland: DOJ will follow 'facts and the law' in Bannon contempt referral
Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers on Thursday that the Justice Department will follow "the facts and the law" if the House of Representatives votes to refer former PresidentDonald Trump's ally Steve Bannon for criminal prosecution for defying a congressional subpoena.
"I will say what a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia said I think yesterday or a day before," Garland said in response to a question on Congress' potential contempt referral for Bannon. "If the House of Representatives votes for a referral of a contempt charge -- then the Department of Justice will do what it always does in such circumstances, we will apply the facts and the law and make a decision consistent with the principles of prosecution."
Garland's first appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee came on the same day that the House is set to vote on whether to hold Bannon, who formerly served as a White House advisor to Trump, in contempt of Congress.
Historically such prosecutions are rare and politically fraught -- but Garland's potential decision on the referral would have significant ramifications for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol as it seeks to compel cooperation from individuals who allegedly had communications with Trump around that day.
The matter was further complicated over the weekend when President Joe Biden told reporters he hoped the department would move forward with prosecutions of those, like Bannon, who defy the select committee's subpoenas. A DOJ spokesperson swiftly released a statement following Biden's remarks restating the department's independence, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified afterward that the president was in no way giving direction to Garland on the issue.
"The Department of Justice will make its own independent decisions in all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law. Period. Full stop," spokesperson Anthony Coley said.
In the hearing, Garland also defended the Justice Department's handling of its sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. He testified Thursday that more than 650 people across the country have been charged in the more than nine months since the attack.
"The violence we witnessed that day was an intolerable assault, not only on the Capitol and the brave law enforcement personnel who sought to protect it, but also on a fundamental element of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power," Garland said.
Republicans on the panel expressed concern about the treatment of some of the rioters being detained ahead of trial, after judges ruled they either presented a threat to the general public or a risk of flight and obstruction of justice.
Last week, a federal judge overseeing one case of a rioter being held in detention pending trial did make a referral to Garland to investigate whether jailed rioters are having their rights violated based on their status as Capitol riot defendants. Garland confirmed in Thursday's hearing that the U.S. Marshals Service subsequently conducted an inspection of their conditions and the Civil Rights Division is reviewing the findings.
