we start with the bombshell new details in the justice department s investigation into the capitol attack. nbc news confirming with an administration official that the doj has been asking questions about former president trump s actions leading up to january 6. the official adds there is not a criminal investigation of mr. trump himself. nbc news reached out to a trump spokesperson for comment. the doj is not officially commenting on the story but in an exclusive interview with lester holt attorney general garland states that no one is above the law. we will hold accountable anyone criminally responsible attempting to block the peaceful transfer of power. that conversation between merrick garland and lester holt. we want to bring in pete williams, charlie savage, chuck rosenberg. we have a great group to get us started. pete, confirming the questions asked related to donald trump s actions on that day and leading up to that day. what specifically do we know? what is the f
case. as the attorney general said to lester yesterday there are some things the committee found out that justice didn t know and said things justice knows that the committee doesn t know. he said that s to be expected with two parallel investigations. it simply means that as the justice department continues this massive investigation they are getting closer to the oval office. asking people around the president about his actions but asking about his actions. and i think it s important to point out as you did this doesn t mean that the justice department quote unquote opened an investigation of president trump but it is worth noting. they re asking about what did his lawyers tell him? what was he saying about pence? what about the efforts the try to get states to send in other slates of electors? a justice department investigation is opaque and in
minds is the economy. time spent on this is time that isn t spent on the economy. if i m northward i want to be talking about the economy, not operation fast & furious. americans already think washington is dysfunctional. they already think it many partisan politics. so they are coming into it with that viewpoint. bill: what about the charge that issa says i have to figure out why the justice department quote-unquote lied about the operation. is that not legitimate? at the end of the date justice department sent a letter that denied they now about the program or denied the program. it s from the atf. then they provided all this information saying we were wrong. here is all the information. is a was pretty transparent. this has nothing to do with getting to bottom of why it