Merrick Garland rebuffs speculation that the DOJ isn't probing potential crimes concerning the Capitol riot: 'We do not do our investigations in public'

• Merrick Garland has rebuffed "speculation" about the DOJ's perceived inaction over the Capitol riot.
• The attorney general said the DOJ doesn't conduct its investigations "in public."

Attorney General Merrick Garland has rebuffed speculation over the Department of Justice's perceived inaction over the January 6 investigation.

During a meeting with the DOJ on Wednesday, Garland said there was "a lot of speculation" over what the department is or isn't doing, and the theories it is working on.

He noted that such speculation is likely to continue because a "central tenet" of the DOJ's process is that "we do not do our investigations in public."

"This is the most wide-ranging investigation and the most important investigation that the Justice Department has ever entered into," Garland said. "And we have done so because this represents this effort to upend a legitimate election, transferring power from one administration to another. It cuts at the fundamentals of American democracy."

"We have to get this right," he emphasized.

Garland added that the DOJ is committed to holding accountable "every person who is criminally responsible" for trying to overturn the presidential election. However, he said the process must be carried out with "integrity and professionalism."

Garland's statement came a day after MSNBC host Rachel Maddow presented an exclusive report on a memo in May that the attorney general had sent to the DOJ.

While the memo noted that high-level approval is required for politically-sensitive probes, this doesn't rule out the possibility of the DOJ pursuing investigations into Trump and his allies over the Capitol riot.

Meanwhile, the January 6 committee said last month that it has enough evidence to ask the DOJ to indict Trump.