Omnibus Bill Has Extra Funds For DOJ To Pursue More Jan. 6 Lawsuits

Authored by Madalina Vasiliu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus government funding bill that passed the Senate this afternoon, contains funds for the Justice Department (DOJ) to pursue additional lawsuits related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

The bill lists various funds, based on Jan. 6 events.

It would give U.S. attorneys $2.63 billion—an increase of $212.2 million—”to further support prosecutions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and domestic terrorism cases,” according to the summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee.

The bill also has $734.5 million for the U.S. Capitol Police, up $132 million over fiscal year 2022. That includes incentives for law enforcement personnel for overtime pay, officer retention, and recruiting. These benefits include tuition credits, wellness, and trauma counseling.

It would cover security officers on contract for mission needs and First Responder Unit training, K-9 unit expansion, and Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) facility costs and training, including leadership development and life-cycle replacements for necessary security, safety, and communications equipment.

The Capitol architect would receive $1.3 billion, a $541 million increase over the fiscal year 2022 budget.

Additionally, the bill would include $11.33 billion for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “for efforts to investigate extremist violence and domestic terrorism.”

The amount represents an increase of $569.6 million compared with the 2022 fiscal year. That would be $524 million above President Joe Biden’s budget request.

“After a lot of hard work, Democrats will fulfill our promise to pass reforms to the Electoral Count Act into law,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Dec. 20.

“Two years after January 6, the attack on our Capitol remains an indelible stain on our democracy, and updating the Electoral Count Act is one of the ways we can prevent another January 6 in the future.”

The omnibus bill includes the intention to make it tougher to reverse a certified presidential election as a direct reaction to the Jan. 6 events at the Capitol. It would raise the threshold for objecting to state electors from one House member and one senator to one-fifth of both chambers.

On Dec. 19, nine members of the Jan. 6 committee agreed to bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to that day’s events. A conviction on any of the charges would make it illegal for him to run for president again.

The same committee referred four Republican legislators to the House Ethics Committee for defying subpoenas earlier this year.

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