The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly planning to share reports of alleged misconduct by police officers from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol with defense attorneys who are representing accused rioters.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., will reportedly provide the reports to lawyers in response to requests for the information, Politico reported on Monday, after the lawyers asked for information regarding claims that some officers may have been “complicit in the January 6 Capitol Breach,” according to the filing written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Regan.
“We have received copies of investigations into officer conduct, have finished reviewing them, and plan to disclose the relevant materials shortly,” Regan wrote, according to Politico.
The document reportedly included the heading “certain specific defense requests.”
The possibility that police officers may have been complicit the day of the attack has been a chief concern among Democrats, who have brought attention to video footage showing officers cooperating with the rioters.
In one video, officers can reportedly be seen moving barricades so the sea of rioters could break through. At least one officer was also reportedly captured taking a selfie with a rioter.
Two days after the incident, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles funding for the Capitol Police, said he asked the police chief to supply all emails and texts from the Capitol Police during the riots, including communications with the D.C. mayor’s office, National Guard, Department of Homeland Security and Army, so he could investigate if officers helped any participants.
A report from the Capitol Police’s internal watchdog released in April found that officers were instructed by leaders not to use their most aggressive strategies when responding to the mob of pro-Trump supporters.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the head of the House Administration Committee, said in April that officers were instructed via ratio transmission that authorities were “not looking for any pro-Trump in the crowd. We’re only looking for any anti pro-Trump who want to start a fight.”
There have been no formal claims of police misconduct or complicity made publicly.
Lawmakers and the Capitol Police inspector general are, however, probing the radio transmissions and other backed-up claims of alleged misconduct, according to Politico.
The filing from Regan also reportedly said that the trove of evidence for defense attorneys representing alleged rioters is large and growing. There are said to be more than 500 riot cases.
The body of evidence includes responses to more than 6,000 grand jury subpoenas, thousands of hours of Capitol camera footage, video from policy body cameras, thousands of phones and hard drives from the alleged rioters, and millions of social media posts, according to the news outlet.
The DOJ has paid Deloitte Financial Advisory Services $6.1 million to create a database to house all the evidence from the riot.