A federal prosecutor told a judge on Tuesday that the Department of Justice was investigating Michael Sherwin, the former U.S. attorney for Washington, DC, for comments he made during a “60-minute” interview about the riots in the Capitol.
In an interview aired Sunday, Sherwin said he believes the evidence tends to meet the standard for filing charges against some of the rioters. “I believe the facts do support the charges,” he said, commenting on individual defendants.
His statements were found by some former prosecutors to be inappropriate, and DOJ officials in particular did not want to say on Monday whether Sherwin had sought approval before agreeing to the interview.
Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said during a hearing Tuesday with four people accused of being members of the Oath Watchers that he was “surprised, and that I use the terminology, surprised to say the at least to see Mr Sherwin sit for an interview on a pending case in an ongoing criminal investigation. “
“Whether his interview violates the Department of Justice’s policy is not just for me to say, but it’s something I hope the Department of Justice wants to look into.”
John Crabb, the director of the criminal justice department for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, told the judge that Sherwin’s decision is being investigated.
“The Department of Justice has rules and procedures that control contact with the media, and as far as we can determine at this stage, those rules and procedures have not been applied with regard to that 60 minute interview. Therefore, the case was referred to the department. of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility, ”Crabb said.
Sherwin resigned as U.S. Attorney on Friday to return to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.
Michael Kosnar contributed.