“Based on the information we have received from supervisors, it appears that things are progressing. I hope to have offers of confession to these parties soon,” United States Assistant Attorney Amanda Fretto said at a hearing on Friday in Washington , DC, for two Texans accused of attacking the Capitol.
“It could happen in a few weeks,” added Fretto, the first time a prosecutor has given a possible deadline for bargaining in open court.
There was no guilty plea, although legal experts believe that many defendants will eventually accept a settlement instead of opting for a challenging and expensive federal trial. For those who choose to go to trial, the delays in the courts and the logistics of the extensive investigation likely mean that the trials can last 12 to 15 months, people informed of the investigation told CNN.
‘Most complex investigation ever’
The Justice Department is calling the investigation one of the “largest in American history” and has been a drain on the department’s and FBI’s resources.
“The Capitol Attack investigation and prosecution is likely to be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of evidence,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in the new documents Friday. market.
The attack, they added, is “probably the most complex investigation ever processed by the Department of Justice”, citing the workload for prosecutors and FBI agents.
More than 900 search warrants have been executed in almost every state, prosecutors said.
The public continues to heed the government’s call for assistance in identifying suspects, which has proved critical in many cases. Authorities say they have received more than 210,000 reports and have already generated 80,000 reports of interviews with witnesses and suspects.
Prosecutors said in court hearings this week that the DOJ is hiring an outside supplier to build a database of all materials, which include an overwhelming number of Capitol video clips.
DOJ brings reinforcements
More than a dozen federal prosecutors from across the country have been sent to Washington to assist in the effort, which is being led by the United States attorney’s office in DC.
Several DC-based prosecutors have also started moving their regular cases back, but 15 are expected to continue working on the most complex conspiracy cases, which could take months of work.
These conspiracy investigations continue and “involve a large number of participants,” the Justice Department said on Friday in court documents.
Many alleged Capitol rioters have already been denounced and declared innocent. The next step is the “discovery” process, in which investigators prepare the evidence for the trial and share it with the defendants.
The Justice Department’s request for a slowdown in some Capitol riot cases is part of a larger struggle over the discovery process.
The defense lawyers of some alleged rowdies complained in court that they did not receive enough materials to begin preparing properly for the trial or for possible confession negotiations. Prosecutors handed over some documents, but told the judges that they had more time.
Judge Trevor McFadden scheduled his next hearing for April 29 and said he hoped they could “resolve the case” on that date, citing the potential for plea negotiations.