Report: DOJ Brings In More Firepower--and Takes Aim at Trumpworld

[reACTIONary]

29. The committee is not turning transcripts over to DOJ...

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/21/jan-6-committee-justice-department-transcripts-00040986

Once the department comes into possession of this material, they will likely be obligated to produce at least portions of it to some of the 800-plus defendants who have been charged to date by prosecutors based on their involvement in the siege of the Capitol. Even with so-called “protective orders” in place that nominally prevent defendants from widely disseminating discovery from the government, there is no realistic way to ensure that defendants or their lawyers will not share this material with people who are not supposed to have access to it. That, in turn, might allow people to coordinate their stories, and it could disincentivize other people from coming forward to speak to the committee.

As for the Justice Department’s position, it is understandable that they would want this material, but the suggestion that they are entitled to it is dubious at best. In order to satisfy their discovery obligations to criminal defendants, prosecutors are required to produce (among other things) any exculpatory evidence in their possession, but this is not evidence in the department’s possession

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