'Threat to Democracy': Biden Privately Spoke in Favor of Trump's Prosecution Over Jan. 6 - Report

On the anniversary of extraordinary events, Biden made a far-reaching pledge vowing to ensure "the past isn't buried" and declared those who plotted and executed the siege "held a dagger at the throat of America."

US President Joe Biden has privately stated that he believed former President Donald Trump should be prosecuted for the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

According to the report, citing sources within the White House, Biden informed members of his inner circle late last year that his predecessor was a "threat to democracy" and that action should be taken against him.

However, the president has reportedly never told Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is in charge of the Department of Justice and is supervising lawsuits relating to Trump's supporters' attempt to prevent Biden's election victory from being certified.

Notably, Biden has allegedly conveyed to Garland that he wanted him to "act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of January 6."

The attorney general's methodical approach to the investigation has allegedly irritated White House's Democratic allies and even Biden himself.

And on Friday, Garland repeated his approach to the matter publicly, as well as apparently refuted the rumors that Biden was advising him on how to proceed. He told reporters that the only pressure he and the other career prosecutors working on the case felt was to "do the right thing," which he defined as "following the facts and the law wherever they may lead."

Nonetheless, Democrats' mounting demands for the Justice Department to act more aggressively illustrate the conflict between the frenzied demands of politics and the painstaking pace of the department's prosecutions, according to the report.

The members of the mostly partisan House committee investigating the events of that day and what led up to them openly asked the department to hurry up with decisive action against those who refuse to cooperate with the investigation.

“Attorney General Garland,” Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia said during a committee hearing, “do your job so that we can do ours."

In the meantime, the administration's spokesman, Andrew Bates, said recently that the president believed in the Justice Department's independence from the partisan lines under Garland.

"President Biden is immensely proud of the attorney general’s service in this administration and has no role in investigative priorities or decisions," the spokesman said.

According to the outlet's sources, Biden's situation is complicated by the fact that his children are involved in federal investigations, thus reportedly making it all the more necessary for him to remain out of the Justice Department's business or risk being accused of interfering for his own family's benefit.

And the NYT stated that the DOJ officials do not keep Biden informed about any inquiry, including those involving his children. Even people close to the president, including White House counsel Dana Remus, allegedly have no knowledge of them, according to the report.

The Justice Department has not made any public statements about its timeline or whether or not prosecutors are considering bringing a case against Trump.

Meanwhile, the House committee investigating the Capitol Hill mayhem has the authority to send criminal referrals to the department, but only it has the authority to file criminal charges. This rush is due to political factors: the committee is striving to construct its case ahead of the November midterm elections, when Republicans are likely to regain the House and abolish the committee.

But Garland allegedly seems devoted to the cause, as he said that the DOJ "remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law."