FBI official Steven D'Antuono says the bureau has opened 160 case files relatd to U.S. Capitol insurrection.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg."
Acting U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin on U.S. Capitol investigation.
"I think the scope and scale of this investigation in these cases are really unprecedented not only in FBI history but really in DOJ history."
He says the Capitol Grounds are, essentially, a crime scene.
SHERWIN describes "mind-blowing" range of criminality. Range of charges include:
-Simple trespassing
-Theft of mail
-Theft of digital devices
-Assault on local/fed officers
-Theft of potential national security info
-Felony murder
SHERWIN adds this is just the beginning.
He says they're charging some of these suspects quickly on the first possible charge, which buys law enforcement time to develop far more significant investigations leading to bigger charges.
🚨SHERWIN: "We're looking at significant felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy."
SHERWIN: "Some of those rioters specifically targeted members of the media and assaulted them."
SHERWIN says people will be "shocked" by some of the non-public details of things that happened inside the Capitol.
SHERWIN on pipe bombs outside RNC and DNC:
"They were real devices, they had explosive igniters." He doesn't know why they weren't detonated.
SHERWIN says prosecutors are treating this as a "significant counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation."
He says they're looking at "money, travel records, disposition, movement, communicaftion records."
MORE: Top House Democratic committee chairs say they just got a separate FBI briefing and are concerned about future violence.
"This was an attempted coup to derail our Constitutional process and intimidate our duly elected leaders through violence."
NEW: Federal authorities are mounting a massive investigation that could lead to "seditious conspiracy" charges against those involved in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol — with "shocking" new details yet to emerge.
NEW: The House will impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday for inciting violent insurrectionists who — just oneweek earlier — stormed the U.S. Capitol, battered police officers and sent lawmakers fleeing for safety.
The charge — willful incitement of insurrection — is the gravest ever lodged against a sitting president.
And it will be bipartisan. At least five Republicans, including Liz CHENEY, have already announced support. More are expected. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…
Trump’s schedule on the day he’ll be impeached again: No public events.
Sherrill made the claim in a Facebook video posted Tuesday evening for constituents. It's a startling allegation that's going to demand additional public details.
RASKIN just yielded Democratic House floor time to Rep. Katko — a Republican — who just came out tonight in favor of impeachment.
"The president's role in this insurrection is undeniable," Katko said
RASKIN now quoting Liz Cheney's statement — accusing Trump of being singularly responsible for the violence at the Capitol — as a rebuttal to Republicans who say it's simply a Democratic talking point.
NEWS: Liz CHENEY will vote to impeach Donald Trump.
Her statement may be even more remarkable than her vote:
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President.”
MORE CHENEY: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
The Judiciary Committee will issue a pre-impeachment report today, as it did before the 2019 one, per a committee source. Committee counsels will be drafting since the committee itself hasn’t been constituted.
JUST IN: The Judiciary Committee has released a staff report on impeachment, laying out the factual and constitutional case for charging Trump with "willful incitement of insurrection."
NEW: One lawmaker got a concealed carry permit. Another was accosted twice at the airport. A third had to hide in an airport bathroom. Lawmakers are fearful for their safety after last week’s assault on the Capitol.
One GOP lawmaker went home expecting constituents to express concern for his well-being after the Capitol riots. Instead, he said he and several colleagues heard a consistent and chilling theme:
Rep. Al GREEN, a prominent proponent of impeachment, was on a two-leg flight from DC to Texas after the Jan. 6 riots when Trump supporters spotted him on the flight. He needed police protection in Nashville and Houston to avoid confrontation. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…