plus, wnba star brittney griner is set to take the stand in russia, while the family of another american also held by the kremlin, also on drug charges, calls for more attention to his case. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start today with our politics lead and merrick garland saying moments ago that the justice department will not hesitate to hold donald trump accountable for the events around january 6th even if trump is the republican nominee for president. if that s where the evidence leads them. listen to what else attorney general garland just told nbc s lester holt. we pursue justice without fear or favor. we intend to hold everyone, anyone who is criminally responsible for the events surrounding january 6th, for any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another, accountable. that s what we do. we don t pay any attention to other issues with respect to that. so if donald trump were to become a candidate for
capitol insurrection in any way. this brand-new poll was taken entirely after the committee wrapped that primetime hearing last thursday, this summer series of hearings and the answer to your question is not much has changed. a little bit at the margins. we asked, do you see that the capitol riot on january 6th represents a crisis, a major problem, a minor problem, or not a problem at all? we asked that in january and february, jake. you see very little movement here. 27% now say it s a crisis. 42% call it a major problem. a little uptick from january. minor problem, 19%, about the same. not a problem at all, 13%. and then look over time, over the trend here by party. okay. these are people that call it a crisis or a major problem. 96% of democrats say so. back in january, that was 91%. little uptick. independents, you see a slight uptick from 63% in january, now 71% of independents call the attack major problem or a crisis. but look at this, jake.