Former AG Bill Barr Says DOJ ‘Cast Their Net Far Too Broadly’ Going After January 6 Protesters

Former Attorney General Bill Barr says that the Department of Justice cast its net “far too broadly” when prosecuting people who were at the Capitol on January 6.

Barr made the comment while speaking to Neil Cavuto on Fox News for the third anniversary of the protest.

“Well, you know, like everything else the left does, they did, I think, go too far,” Barr told Cavuto on Saturday.

“I think there were people involved in January 6, particularly the people who attacked the police and broke their way into the Capitol, there were people that should have been prosecuted, but I think they cast their net far too broadly and have been hounding people that really, you know, just wanted into open doors in the Capitol and hung around,” Barr said.

Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr on Trump appealing Colorado’s ballot ban: “The effort to take him off the ballot and deny people the choice… We can’t have all the states making their own rules as to what an insurrection is and evidence is needed to make a determination.” pic.twitter.com/R2uRfSOz5a

— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) January 6, 2024

Barr served as Attorney General for former Presidents Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush.

He added that he did not want to “minimize” what happened that day but did not “think it was an insurrection.”

“It clearly was a shameful episode, and some of the people involved should be prosecuted,” Barr said.

Barr also condemned efforts to have Trump removed from the ballot.

“The effort to take him off the ballot and deny people the choice… We can’t have all the states making their own rules as to what an insurrection is and evidence is needed to make a determination.”

Over 1,200 people have been charged with federal crimes for being at the Capitol that day. Many were simply wandering around.

The Hill reports:

In what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history, prosecutors are still searching for suspects and continue to ask for the public’s help in identifying at least 80 people.

A federal court ruled Friday that rioters who were passive during the attack can be convicted of disorderly conduct.

At least two dozen defendants are seeking to delay their cases until the Supreme Court decides whether an obstruction charge used to prosecute rioters was legitimately applied by the DOJ. Some are seeking pauses in their upcoming hearings while some already sentenced are hoping to be released from prison.