A federal prosecutor told a judge on Tuesday that the Justice Department is investigating Michael Sherwin, the former US attorney in Washington, DC, for comments he made during a “60 Minutes” interview about the riot investigations in the Capitol.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Sherwin said he believed the evidence was “tending to” meet the standard for filing charges of sedition against some of the protesters. “I believe the facts support these charges,” he said and also made other comments about the individual defendants.
His statements seemed inappropriate to some former prosecutors, and DOJ officials, notably, on Monday refused to say whether Sherwin had sought approval before agreeing to the interview.
During a hearing on Tuesday involving four people accused of being members of the Oath Keepers, US District Court Judge Amit Mehta for the District of Columbia said he was “surprised, and I’m being restricted in the use of terminology, surprised to say the minimum to see Mr. Sherwin sitting for an interview on a case pending in an ongoing criminal investigation. “
“It is not for me to say whether his interview violated the Department of Justice policy, but it is something that I hope the Department of Justice is investigating.”
John Crabb, director of the Criminal Division of the United States attorney’s office in Washington, told the judge that Sherwin’s decision is being investigated.
“The Department of Justice has rules and procedures that govern contact with the media and, as far as we can determine at the moment, those rules and procedures were not applied in relation to that ’60 minute’ interview. So this matter was referred to the Office Department of Professional Responsibility, “said Crabb.
Sherwin stepped down as a US attorney on Friday to return to the US attorney’s office in Miami.
Michael Kosnar contributed.