Washington Post reports DOJ, FBI delayed Trump Jan. 6 investigation for over a year

The Washington Post reported that senior Justice Department and FBI officials rejected or rebuffed early proposals to investigate actions taken by Donald Trump and his allies leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The decisions stemmed from wariness about appearing partisan, institutional caution, and clashes over how much evidence would be sufficient to probe whether the actions constituted crimes. The FBI did not open an investigation into the fake-electors scheme until April 2022, roughly 14-15 months after the attack, and the DOJ did not actively probe Trump's role for nearly a year. According to the Washington Post report, the delay may have allowed records to be lost and private messages deleted, leaving Trump's legal culpability unresolved as he launched a 2024 campaign.