Luria says Garland ‘doesn’t need to wait’ to act on criminal investigation of Trump over Jan. 6

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, said that the Department of Justice should criminally investigate former President Trump, reiterating a call other members of the panel made Sunday.

“I can tell the Department of Justice is watching our hearings closely. There have been cases of criminal defendants who have been charged and found guilty for events on Jan. 6, and they have actually quoted testimony from the Jan. 6 witnesses and hearings,” Luria said in an interview with moderator Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The Virginia congresswoman called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to act, saying she knows Garland has been monitoring the hearings.

“If he’s watching today, I’d tell him he doesn’t need to wait on us, because I think he has plenty to keep moving forward.”

Several Democratic lawmakers have pushed for the committee to issue a criminal referral against the former president, which would pressure the DOJ to start up a criminal investigation. Many have also grown frustrated with the DOJ’s inaction, even as the Jan. 6 committee surges forward with hearings, unveiling new evidence against the Trump camp.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Friday said the House committee had “proven different components of a criminal case” against Trump.

These comments from Luria and Kinzinger follow last week’s public hearing, the eighth in a series by the Jan. 6 committee, when the committee homed in on the former president’s inaction during the attack on the Capitol.