White House denies report on President Biden’s frustration with handling of Jan. 6 investigation 

White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Sunday denied that President Biden has privately vented his frustrations with Attorney General Merrick Garland over his handling of the January 6th investigation, which the New York Times reported this weekend.

In a report published Saturday, the Times noted growing frustration among Democratic allies of the White House over the Justice Department for not investigating former President Trump and his inner circle for subverting the 2020 election. Biden reportedly shared Democrats’ frustration.

Klain denied the President’s reported frustration with Garland and the alleged push for Trump to be prosecuted during an interview on ABC News. “I’ve never heard the president say that, advocate the prosecution of any person,” Klain said.

Klain emphasized a pillar of Biden’s 2020 campaign message: the President would not interfere politically with the DOJ’s work, unlike the Trump administration.

“Only Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, in the modern era, believed that prosecution decisions should be made in the Oval Office, not at the Justice Department,” Klain said. “We have returned the practice that every other president, Democratic and Republican, has had since Watergate, other than Trump, to let those decisions be made at the Justice Department.”

Klain then stressed that the President has full confidence in Garland to make decisions regarding prosecutions.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is a member of the January 6th Select Committee, was steadfast in his criticism of the DOJ’s progress in its investigation so far during an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday.

“I do share the sentiment that the Justice Department is erring on the side of not wanting to create controversy by investigating those that may have committed crimes, but nonetheless were high up in the last administration,” Schiff said. “I just don’t think that’s tenable if there’s evidence of crime that needs to be investigated regardless of who it is.”