WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could start sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials ratchet up public pressure on the panel to turn over the documents.
Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel and a former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days, as the two sides wrangle over the timing and content of the material to be turned over, according to several people familiar with the talks but not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
Prosecutors have previously said that the committee planned to publicly release the documents requested in September.
Lawmakers on the committee and the staff members responsible for conducting hundreds of interviews have said that they are currently consumed with the task of making the clearest possible public case that Trump and his allies incited an insurrection — and plan to pivot to the department’s request as they begin winding down their series of public hearings later this month.
And the logistical challenges are daunting: The committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, hundreds of which were transcribed, and accommodating the Justice Department’s request would require a diversion of labor on a staff that is already exhausted and overstretched. Because of the volume of interviews — which often number in the dozens per week — it has at times taken the committee months to prepare a witness’s transcript and invite his or her lawyer to review it in person.
Moreover, some committee members have been frustrated by the Justice Department’s refusal, thus far, to share information and interviews the committee has requested.
