President Joe Biden last year confided to members of his inner circle that he considered former President Donald Trump a "threat to democracy" and wanted him prosecuted over the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, but didn't relay his thoughts to Attorney General Merrick Garland, reports The New York Times.
Biden was reportedly frustrated that Garland didn't act more aggressively and decisively in prosecuting the people involved in the insurrection, though White House spokesman Andrew Bates in a statement issued Sunday to The Independent that Biden "is immensely proud of the attorney general's service in this administration and has no role in investigative priorities or decisions."
The Times said their report was based on interviews with more than a dozen people, including officials in the Biden administration.
Biden has described Garland as a "ponderous judge" and said he wants to see him take more "decisive action" regarding the Capitol siege.
Garland on Friday said prosecutors handling the case only felt and urgency to "do the right thing," which has made them "follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead."
Biden on the anniversary of the riot strongly condemned Trump for his conduct.
"Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so," he added, "held a dagger at the throat of America, at American democracy."
"Is that what you thought when you looked at the mob ransacking the Capitol, destroying property, literally defecating in the hallways, rifling through desks of senators and representatives, hunting down members of Congress? Patriots? Not in my view," he said in a speech at the National Statuary Hall at the time.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain during an interview on ABC's "This Week" said he never heard the president "advocate the prosecution of any person.
"Look, one reason why Joe Biden got elected was he promised that we'd take the decision over who got prosecuted … away from the White House and put it in the Justice Department. … The president has confidence in the attorney general to make those decisions, and that's where those decisions should be made," he said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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