Adam Schiff criticizes slow pace of Justice Department investigation into broader January 6 plot

• Rep. Adam Schiff criticized the slow pace of the Department of Justice's investigation on January 6.
• Schiff called the initial communication of information between the committee and the DOJ "breathtaking."

Rep. Adam Schiff, who is currently serving on the January 6 House committee, criticized the slow pace of the Department of Justice's investigation of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol on Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival.

"They have been very slow, though, on the much more comprehensive, and I believe, even more, significant investigation of January 6," Schiff said, according to CNN.

Schiff said he believed that it was a mistake for the DOJ to start the investigation with those who broke into the Capitol, adding that there are multiple efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to CNN.

"That works when you have one plot, one conspiracy. It doesn't work when there are multiple lines of effort to overturn an election, multiple plots that may be all part of the same whole, but nonetheless, each operating independently," Schiff said, criticizing the DOJ strategy, according to CNN.

Schiff also criticized the DOJ for allowing Fulton County, Georgia, to conduct its own investigation, where former Trump lawyer John Eastman will appear before a grand jury after he authored a memo that illustrates a six-step plan for former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election.

Schiff called the initial process of communicating between the committee and the DOJ "breathtaking," according to CNN.

"It would be equally breathtaking if we were to say to the Justice Department, 'Turn over all of your files,'" Schiff said, according to CNN. "My first reaction when we got the request -- 'Turn over all your files to us' -- was: 'Why don't you have your own damn files? Why haven't you been conducting your own investigation? Why do you need us to do it?'"

According to CNN, Schiff did, however, say that the DOJ's investigation was increasing.

"It does appear now that they have interviewed many of the same significant witnesses that we have," Schiff said according to CNN.