Capitol riot prosecutors may charge more than 400 people and plea deals may come ‘within a few weeks’
“Based on the information we received from supervisors, it sounds like things are moving along. I hope to have plea offers for these parties soon,” Assistant US Attorney Amanda Fretto said at a hearing Friday in Washington, DC, for two Texans charged in the Capitol attack.
“That could happen within a few weeks,” Fretto added, the first time a prosecutor gave a possible timeline for plea bargains in open court.
There haven’t been any guilty pleas, though legal experts believe many defendants will ultimately take a deal instead of opting for a costly and challenging federal trial. For those that choose to go to trial, backlogs in the courts and the sheer logistics of the sprawling investigation likely mean court trials may be 12 to 15 months away, people briefed on the probe told CNN.
‘Most complex investigation ever’
The Justice Department is calling the investigation one of the “largest in American history,” and it has been a drain on department and FBI resources.
“The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in the new filings on Friday.
The attack, they added, is “likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” citing the overwhelming workload for prosecutors and FBI agents.
More than 900 search warrants have been executed in almost every state, prosecutors said.
The public is continuing to heed the government’s call for assistance in identifying suspects, which has proven critical in many cases. Authorities say they’ve received more than 210,000 tips and have already generated 80,000 reports from interviewing witnesses and suspects.
Prosecutors said at court hearings this week the DOJ is hiring an outside vendor to build a database of all the materials, which include an overwhelming number of video clips from Capitol grounds.
DOJ brings in reinforcements
More than a dozen federal prosecutors from around the country have been sent to Washington to assist in the effort, which is being led by the US attorney’s office in DC.
Several DC-based prosecutors have also started moving their regular cases back, but 15 are expected to continue working the more complex conspiracy cases which could take months of work.
These conspiracy investigations are continuing and “involves a large number of participants,” the Justice Department said Friday in court papers.
Many alleged Capitol rioters have already been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. The next step is the “discovery” process where investigators prepare evidence for trial and share it with defendants.
The Justice Department’s request for a slowdown in some Capitol riot cases is part of a larger struggle over the discovery process.
Defense attorneys for some alleged rioters complained in court that they haven’t been given enough materials to adequately start preparing for trial or for potential plea negotiations. Prosecutors have turned over some documents but have told judges they more time.
Judge Trevor McFadden set their next hearing for April 29 and said he hoped they could “resolve the case” on that date, mentioning the potential for guilty plea negotiations.
