DOJ gets huge budget increase to pursue J6 protesters

FPI / December 23, 2022

The $1.7 trillion omnibus bill passed by the Senate on Thursday includes an increase of some $180 million for the Department of Justice to carry out its political persecution of Jan. 6 protesters, a House Appropriations Committee summary revealed.

The DOJ had asked Congress for $34 million for its team of 130 employees to carry out Jan. 6 investigations in 2023. The omnibus bill, which passed the Senate by a 68-29 vote, increases the investigative team's budget to $212.1 million.

"So terrible that Republicans would let this happen," former President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post.

The FBI has arrested nearly 900 people in relation to the Jan. 6 protest, according to NBC News. The FBI has still not arrested all those it wishes to in connection with the protest, according to whistleblowers.

“The cases are unprecedented in scale and [it] is expected to be among the most complex investigations prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” the DOJ previously told Congress, claiming the funding was “necessary for the continued prosecutions of the growing number of cases related to this breach of the U.S. Capitol that has left the Department with an immense task of finding and charging those responsible for the attacks.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland told NBC News in July that the DOJ did not necessarily need more funds to prosecute the prisoners but would take the additional means if provided.

Related: GOP caves on spending days before party control of House, December 21, 2022

The DOJ is not the only agency getting a boost in funding in connection with the Jan. 6 protest.

House Appropriations Committee’s summary also revealed the FBI, the agency that worked with Twitter to censor conservatives on the platform, will receive “an increase of $569.6 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $524 million above the president’s budget request, including for efforts to investigate extremist violence and domestic terrorism.”

The FBI’s total budget will be $11.33 billion.

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